TEHRAN – Iran has improved its ranking in the latest Global Innovation Index (GII), moving up seven positions to 60, the 2021 report released Monday showed.

Iran, which was ranked 67th in GII 2020, is one of the countries that has had the highest growth in GII 2021.

The 2021 edition of the Global Innovation Index presents the latest global innovation ranking of 132 economies, relying on 81 different indicators. While tracking the most recent global innovation trends in the new Global Innovation Tracker, this edition also focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on innovation.

Iran is ranked 13th among the middle and upper-middle-income countries. Since its inception in 2007, the GII has shaped the innovation measurement agenda and become a cornerstone of economic policymaking.

This year, the classification of countries by region and income level is also presented, and Iran is 13th among the middle and upper-middle-income countries and the second among the countries of the Central and South Asian region, after India.

Among the sub-indices, the best ranks of Iran are related to "brand" (in the pillar of creative outputs), "science and engineering graduates" (in the pillar of human capital and research), and "industrial design" (in the pillar of creative outputs).

Switzerland topped the league table, followed by Sweden, the U.S., and the UK, said the report by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Among Asian economies, South Korea jumped to the fifth position, up from 10 in the last years. China was in the 12th position.

Five Asian countries are among the top 15, including South Korea, Singapore, China, Japan, and Hong Kong.

Innovation in Iran developed rapidly in 5 years

Knowledge-based companies and creative startups have grown over the past five years, and Iran has risen 45 places in the Global Innovation Index.

The GII in Iran from 2015 to 2019 has risen from 106 to 61 with continuous improvement, showing 45 steps growth.

The development of accelerators and innovation centers over the last five years has led to a rapid increase in startups and knowledge-based companies.

Between 2014 and 2017, exports of knowledge-based goods grew by a factor of five, before slumping in 2018 after the U.S. withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (2015), commonly referred to as the nuclear deal, and re-imposed sanctions.

The report states that innovation in Iran has developed rapidly over the past five years, and by the end of last year, 49 accelerators and 113 innovation centers had provided services to start-ups with the participation of the private sector.

FB/MG