Singapore kicks Hong Kong further down the innovation index

The Lion City ranked first in Asia and sixth worldwide.

Backed by strong institutions, infrastructure, and human capital among others, Singapore emerged as the most innovative economy in Asia beating South Korea and its rival Hong Kong.

In the latest Global Innovation Index (GII) released by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Singapore moved one notch higher to 6th place from last year’s global rankings. South Korea, now 11th most innovative economy in the world, switched places with Hong Kong, which stepped lower to 14th from 11th place last year.

Singapore bested all other economies in innovation input sub-index with a score of 72.9. It also ranked first in the institutions index, thanks to government effectiveness and healthy political environment.

The city-state was also the lead economy in infrastructure with information and communication technologies and government’s online services as key drivers.

According to GII 2016, Singapore ranked first in business sophistication, fifth in market sophistication, and second in human capital and research.

The majority of innovation leaders were in Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania region, or in Europe, with Japan at 16th, New Zealand at 17th, and China at 25th places, completing this year’s top 25 economies.

At the global level, Switzerland remained at the top post, followed by Sweden, UK, USA, and Finland.