The Global Innovation Scorecard rates countries across 16 categories. Photo Credit: Adobe Stock/Artful Stock
Singapore, Japan, and South Korea have been recognised as three of the world’s most innovative countries.
The three Asian destinations were named as ‘2025 Innovation Champions’ in the Consumer Technology Association’s (CTA) 2025 Global Innovation Scorecard, which evaluates 74 countries, including the entire G-20, all 27 members of the European Union, and the EU as a whole.
The scorecard is a comparative analysis of 56 indicators across 16 categories, with measurements identifying the countries that most strongly encourage tech innovation, economic growth, and social progress and the policies other countries could emulate to deliver similar benefits to their people. The list of 25 ‘innovation champion’ destinations also included New Zealand.
Singapore's combined score across the 16 categories saw it top the Innovation Champions list, ahead of the US in second place, followed by New Zealand, Sweden, and Switzerland. Japan and South Korea featured in 17th and 18th place respectively.
‘Innovation Champions’ is the scorecard’s highest ranking, with those on the list earning high marks for having a diverse and highly skilled workforce, fast broadband, a friendly climate for entrepreneurs, and openness to new technologies like Web 3.0 technologies, autonomous vehicles, and blockchain.
Malaysia and the Philippines were recognised in the ‘Innovation Leaders’ category, which are countries with relatively high degrees of economic and personal freedom, have well-educated workforces, and have high levels of entrepreneurial activity and R&D investment.
Just under a third of the 20 destinations featured in the ‘Innovation Adopters’ category, defined as those who show strong pro-innovation policies and trends in some categories, but most were in Asia. These countries included China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Gary Shapiro, CEO and vice chair, CTA said: "Technology drives solutions to global challenges, from access to health care and mobility to energy and sustainability. Our Innovation Champions exemplify the transformative power of collaboration between government and industry to enhance lives worldwide. We aspire for global leaders to learn from each other and fully harness the benefits of technology in the future."