Innovation Ecosystem Monitor

Last changes: 10. November 2025

Mapping Switzerland's Innovation Strengths, Weaknesses and Their Evolution Over Time

What is the monitors purpose?

The goal of this monitor is to provide an overview of the competitiveness of Switzerland's innovation ecosystem in an international context and go into more detail where it is relevant to Innosuisse. The monitor aims to provide a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the Swiss innovation ecosystem and its development over time. Wherever possible the monitor links to reports that describe the findings in more detail. The report is updated at least once a year after the publication of most indices in autumn.

From the abstract to the concrete

Switzerland regularly appears on top of international innovation rankings. These indices are constructed out of a multitude of indicators, they present different perspectives on the innovation ecosystem and their selection influences the final ranking.

In the following, the report will first take a bird's eye view and look at different innovation indices (see below ↓) and then will dive into detail and shed light on selected input and output indicators (menu on the left hand side ←). The starting point for the in-depth analyses are selected indicators from the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS).

Switzerland maintains its position on top

remains at the top of the two most prominent innovation rankings. The leading countries in both the Global Innovation Index (GII) and the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) have changed little. Only , and have made significant gains. has entered the GII's top ten for the first time and sits just outside it in the EIS.

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Why are the Swiss S&T clusters not top-ranked?

Here, only Zurich region (rank 40, +10 compared to 2024) ranks among the top 100 Science & Technology-Clusters, behind among others London (8), Paris (12), Munich (27) and Berlin (30). Basel region has dropped out of the top 100 (compared to its rank 96 in 2024).

The reason why Switzerland appears nonetheless at the top of the rankings as a country is twofold:

The S&T-Clusters are – unlike the countries – not compared relative to their size, but in absolute terms. Consequently, bigger clusters have an advantage.
The concentration of S&T-Clusters in Switzerland is dense in relation to the rest of the country (and in contrast to other countries).

However, followers may be catching up

Comparison of the score evolution for GII and EIS 2021–2025

has slipped slightly in the latest European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS). , and have gained ground and narrowed the gap. This is partly due to changes in the index's methodology. The EIS now includes, for example, measures of supply-chain vulnerability, which penalises Switzerland: its complex products depend on high-tech imports from outside the EU.

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The Global Innovation Index, which uses a broader set of indicators, shows no such convergence and no decline in Swiss innovative power.

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Switzerland's strengths and weaknesses

Both indices highlight similar strengths: exceptional scientific output and exceptionally close links between industry and academia, evident in public-private co-publications and university-industry R&D collaboration.

The weaknesses are more varied, from limited government support to low foreign direct investment and trade impacts. One very notable difference: high-tech imports. The EIS treats them as a vulnerability, signalling dependence on critical supplies. The GII sees them positively, as a sign of economic complexity and ability to absorb foreign knowledge. Both views have their raison d'être. Which matters more depends on how open the global economy remains.

	European Innovation Scoreboard (2025)	Global Innovation Index (2025)
Strengths	Public-private co-publications Innovation linkages	University–industry R&D collaboration Innovation linkages
	International scientific co-publications Attractive research systems	Patents by origin/bn PPP$ GDP Knowledge creation
	Foreign doctorate students as a share of all doct. stud. Attractive research systems	Production and export complexity Knowledge diffusion
Weaknesses	Direct & indirect government support of business R&D Finance and support	FDI net inflows, % GDP Knowledge absorption
	High-tech imports from outside the EU Trade impacts	ICT use ICT
	Exports of medium and high-tech products Trade impacts	Domestic industry diversification Trade, diversification and market scale

Additional info: Strong increases an decreases

	European Innovation Scoreboard (2018–25)	Global Innovation Index (2021–25)
↗ Strong increases	Venture capital expenditures Finance and support	Applied tariff rate, weighted avg., % Trade, diversification and market scale
	Sales of new-to-market and new-to-firm innovations Sales and employment impacts	High-tech imports, % total trade Knowledge absorption
	Population involved in lifelong learning Human resources	Industrial designs by origin/bn $ GDP Intangible assets
↘ Strong decreases	SMEs introducing business process innovations Innovators	FDI net inflows, % GDP Knowledge absorption
	Design applications Intellectual assets	ICT services imports, % total trade Knowledge absorption
	Employment in innovative enterprises Sales and employment impacts	Labor productivity growth, % Knowledge impact

Switzerland is one of the most competitive countries

also ranks highly in broader measures of competitiveness. It has climbed on top of IMD's rankings for both overall and digital competitiveness.

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Sources

Wipo (2025) Global Innovation Index
European Commission (2025) European Innovation Scoreboard
IMD (2025) World Competitiveness Ranking
IMD (2025) World Digital Competitiveness Ranking

Other indices

Economist (2024) The Innovation Quotient has been discontinued and is no longer included.
GEM (2025) Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
The EU made a study on the development of an European startup scoreboard. The scoreboard is in development.