New study places Cyprus in second place among region's top three innovation economies

As well as moving up a place to 27th overall in Global Innovation Index 2024, Cyprus is also considered to be in second place in Northern Africa and Western Asia region when island economies are included.

The Global Innovation Index, also known as GII, is published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The newly released Index lists the top four in the region, including all economies, as Israel in first place followed by Cyprus, United Arab Emirates and Turkey in fourth place. However, when island economies are not included, Israel, UAE and Turkey make up the top three in the NAWA region.

In the overall Global Innovation Index 2024 rankings, Cyprus is in 27th place, up one place since last year.

Switzerland, Sweden and the USA were in the top spots while Cyprus was immediately followed by Spain and Malta and placed far ahead of Greece which was in the 45th spot.

The study also found Cyprus to have a performance in line with level of development, being in the same group as countries including Austria, Hong Kong-China and Norway among other countries.

Cyprus, meanwhile, is in the middle of the graph when it comes to Prevalence of Social Entrepreneurship Among Early-Stage Entrepreneurs 2021-2022.

WIPO General Director Daren Tang, in his introduction to the Index, welcomed readers to “The 17th edition of WIPO’s flagship Global Innovation Index (GII), our guide to the innovative performance of 133 countries, as well as the world’s top 100 science and technology clusters.”

“This year’s special theme, Unlocking the Promise of Social Entrepreneurship, explores the link between innovation and social enterprises, and the impact this delivers for our world,” Tang said.

He also noted, “The GII tends to be centered around innovation for economic growth and development. We have broadened our scope this year and chosen the theme of social innovation. Estimates suggest there are up to 11 million social enterprises and 30 million social entrepreneurs globally, contributing around USD 2 trillion to global GDP. Often these organisations are at the forefront of addressing critical issues like poverty, environmental sustainability, and social injustice.”

View the full report here