Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025 – Key Highlights and India's Position

The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has published the 18th edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025 and it has ranked approximately 140 economies based on the innovation ecosystems. Laid down in 2007, the GII is an annual index, which assesses economies on several measures of innovation, including research and development and business sophistication and infrastructure.

Major Findings:

Reduction on Research and Development (R&D) Growth:

• In 2024, the growth rate of global R&D came to 2.9 percent, the lowest level of growth since the financial crisis of 2010. WIPO predicts another 2.3 percent decline in 2025.

Top Countries:

• Switzerland has been ranked as the global leader in innovation, ranking 15th in the world as the leader in innovation with Sweden, United States, South Korea and Singapore ranking 2-5 respectively.

• China has broken into the top 10, achieved the 10th position in the world and is in the forefront among the middle-income economies.

India's Performance:

• Rank: India has improved consistently, shifting the position between 48 in 2020, and 38 in 2025.

• Regional Leadership: India is ranked first in lower-middle-income economies and top in the Central and Southern Asia region.

Best Performances:

• Outputs of Knowledge and Technology: India is at position 22.

• Market Sophistication: India is ranked 38.

Weaknesses:

• Business Sophistication: 64th position.

• Infrastructure: Ranked #61.

• Institutions: Ranked #58.

• The remarkable characteristics of India are its exports of ICT services, its active venture capital (VC) ecosystem, robust late-stage VC and start-up funding, and a substantial and growing number of unicorns and intangible assets, which signify the existence of a healthy tech-based economy.

Significance for India:

• Strengths: India has been steadily advancing up the ranking, which indicates the improvement of the country in the areas of the digital economy, startups, and ICT exports. The nation is becoming a tech innovation and entrepreneurship hub in the world.

• Challenges: India has a number of challenges associated with the growth, such as infrastructure, business sophistication and institutional quality, which requires significant reform to create a more favorable environment to support innovation.

Indian Major Innovation Initiatives:

• Startup India (2016):

  • DPIIT initiated this initiative and offers tax exemptions, Fund of Funds and credit guarantee schemes and facilitation of ease of compliance to develop start ups.

• Atal Innovation Mission (AIM):

  • An innovation promotion initiative suggested by a NITI Aayog, called Atal Tinkering Labs at schools, Incubation Centres to startups and New India Challenges to solve national issues.

• National Initiative Aimed at Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI):

  • A DST program providing aid to innovators in the form of PRAYAS (idea to prototype), Entrepreneur-in-Residence fellowships, and incubation assistance.

• Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI):

  • UPI and Aadhaar, along with other platforms such as ONDC and DigiLocker, offer scalable frameworks that can enable innovation in the field of fintech, commerce, and governance.

• Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes:

  • These plans give incentives to conduct research and production in such areas as electronics and semiconductors, electric vehicles (EVs), and pharma.

WIPO Overview:

• WIPO is a non-profit organization which is funded by the United Nations, with the purpose of assisting the global creators and innovators in protecting their ideas and facilitating them on their path to the market.

• It boasts 194 member countries which consist of developed and developing countries such as India, Italy, Israel and the US.

• Head Office: Geneva, Switzerland.

Conclusion

The increasing global innovation index in India is indicative of its increased significance in global innovations, especially in technology and startups. The nation however must fill in serious shortcomings in infrastructure, business complexities, and institutional backup to carry and expedite this troop. The current government programs like the Startup India, the AIM and the PLI programs are paving the way to making India a major global destination in terms of innovation.