The Netherlands ranks fifth on the list of the world’s most innovative countries in 2022, according to data from the UN’s WIPO Global Innovation Index.

The Netherlands scored 58.0 on the index, behind Switzerland, the United States, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. South Korea, Singapore, Germany, Finland, and Denmark rounded out the top 10. This ranking for the Netherlands is likely due to the country’s strong performance in categories such as business sophistication, market sophistication, and institutions. The Netherlands is known for its strong collaboration between universities and industry and its attractive environment for top talent.

Source: visualcapitalist.com/most-innovative-countries-2022

The UN’s WIPO Global Innovation Index is a comprehensive ranking of countries’ innovation performance, based on 81 different indicators across seven categories. The categories are business sophistication, market sophistication, infrastructure, human capital and research, institutions, creative outputs, and knowledge and technology outputs. These categories are designed to identify indicators that foster an innovative environment and breakthrough technologies.

According to the data from the UN’s WIPO Global Innovation Index, the Netherlands ranks highly in the categories of business sophistication and market sophistication. These categories include indicators such as business R&D spend and net inflows of foreign direct investment for business sophistication, and the size of the economy’s GDP and intensity of local market competition for market sophistication.

The Netherlands also scores well in the category of institutions, which includes indicators such as political stability and safety and the ease of starting a business. The country’s favorable business environment, coupled with its strong collaboration between universities and industry, likely contribute to its high ranking in the innovation index.