Japan remains 12th in global innovation ranking

Japan maintained its 12th place position in the latest annual innovation report by the World Intellectual Property Organization. In the rankings, South Korea, Singapore, and China outperformed Japan among major regional economies. The report revealed that Japan had fallen short of its government's goal to secure a top three ranking in the Global Innovation Index by 2035.

South Korea secured the fourth position, the highest in the Asia-Pacific region, followed by Singapore in fifth, and China in tenth place. Notably, South Korea, Japan, and China retained the same positions from the previous year. The index evaluated 139 economies using 80 indicators. Switzerland topped the list for the 16th consecutive year, with Sweden and the United States closely following.

Japan's strength in industrial and corporate innovation was highlighted as one of the strongest globally. The Tokyo-Yokohama region was recognized as the world's second-ranked innovation cluster, reflecting Japan's significant patenting, research, and venture capital activity. However, Japan lagged behind in areas such as tertiary education, science and engineering graduates, and knowledge-intensive employment.

Additionally, the declining youth population impacted Japan's innovation performance. The report also noted that global investment in technological innovation continued to grow, with research and development expenditure increasing by 3.3 percent in 2025 from the previous year, projected to rise by 3.6 percent in 2026 to reach $3.4 trillion.