According to Yonhap News,

According to an analysis, Korea appears to be the most innovative country in the world.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology uation and Planning (KISTEP) on July 30th, the European Commission (EC) recently announced the 'European Innovation Scoreboard 2025 (EIS 2025)', which compares and analyzes the innovation performance of EU member states, neighboring European countries, and major global competitors.

Innovation performance is measured by 32 indicators in four categories including innovation conditions, investment, innovation activities, and ripple effects, with five indicators updated this year to reflect evolving policy priorities.

Korea took the top position with 152.2 points this year (based on the EU average of 100 points in 2018), significantly exceeding the EU average of 112.6 points this year.

After Korea, Canada and China tied for third with 133.4 points each, while the U.S. and Australia surpassed the EU with more than 120 points.

Korea also scored the highest point last year, being the only country to score more than 140 points.

Korea also recorded the highest at 6.3 percentage points in terms of innovation performance growth compared to last year.

China (6.0 percentage points) and Australia (3.8 percentage points) followed in the rate of increase, while most countries' innovation performance improved.

By contrast, Canada, the EU, and South Africa showed a decline.

The EC uated that "Korea showed relative strength in trademark applications, design applications, and R&D expenditures in the corporate sector," and analyzed SMEs' business process innovation, product innovation, and scientific paper presentation as relative weaknesses.

Korea's innovation performance has been ahead of the EU for eight consecutive years since 2018.

In terms of innovation performance growth relative to 2018, China increased the most with 44.7%, followed by Korea with 25.8 percentage points.


harrison@yna.co.kr
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Source: Yonhap News (July 30, 2025)

** This article was translated from Korean.