EU innovation ranking: Austria is a “strong innovator”

The latest European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) 2022 of the European Commission confirms Austria’s high level of innovative strength. No other country in the EU registers so many patents, trademarks and designs as Austria in relation to its GDP. Austria is even ranked first in the EU in the category of intellectual property, thus surpassing the innovation leaders Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

Austria achieved an overall score of 118 points compared to the EU average of 100. Accordingly, the country ranks as one of the “strong innovators” similar to France and Germany, and thus outperforms the EU average. The authors of the study emphasized the outstanding public funding of research and development in Austria, amongst other things.

Based on its expenditures for research and development, Austria is one of five EU member states which fulfil the European objective of achieving a research ratio of three percent of annual GDP. Statistics Austria expects the country to have a research ratio of 3.26% in 2022. The RTI Strategy 2030 and the Pact on Research, Technology and Innovation foresee a steady growth in funding which is embedded in the Research Financing Act. The EIS is prepared annually by the EU Commission. It provides insights into the performance of research and innovation of the countries and highlights various aspects encompassed in twelve innovation categories.

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