Singapore leads Asia in Global Innovation Index 2012

But Singaporeans are not yet the world's most innovative people.

In a release, Switzerland, Sweden and Singapore lead the world's innovation performance according to Global Innovation Index 2012 (GII): Stronger Innovation Linkages for Global Growth, published by INSEAD eLab, an international business school, and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialized agency of the United Nations.

Here's more from the study:

The report ranks 141 countries/economies on the basis of their innovation capabilities and results. It benefits from the experience of Knowledge Partners Alcatel-Lucent, Booz & Company, and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), as well as an Advisory Board of eleven international experts.

The study shows that the dynamics of innovation continue to be affected by the emergence of new successful innovators, as seen by the range of countries across continents in the top twenty GII ranking, as well as the good performances of emerging countries such as Latvia, Malaysia, China, Montenegro, Serbia, Republic of Moldova, Jordan, Ukraine, India, Mongolia, Armenia, Georgia, Namibia, Viet Nam, Swaziland, Paraguay, Ghana, Senegal; and low-income countries Kenya and Zimbabwe.

The list of overall GII top 10 performers has changed little from last year. Switzerland, Sweden, and Singapore are followed in the top ten by Finland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Hong Kong (China), Ireland, and the United States of America. Canada is the only country leaving the top 10 this year, mirroring weakening positions on all main GII innovation input and output pillars.