Brazil: New Latin American Leader in Global Innovation Ranking

Brazil has become the regional leader in Latin America and the Caribbean in the Global Innovation Index (GII) after climbing five places to 49th this year.

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The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in its new edition shows Brazil displacing Chile as regional leader, moving up five places from 53rd in 2022 to 49th in 2023 out of the 132 evaluated. 

This is the first time Brazil is placed among the top 50 economies in the IGI after 12 years. Until a few years ago, it was fourth on the list of the most innovative economies in Latin America, behind Chile, Mexico and Costa Rica.

At the top of the list compiled by the UN specialized agency are Switzerland, with a score of 67.6, and Sweden, with 64.2.  They are followed by the U.S., the U.K., Singapore, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and the Republic of Korea. Brazil has a score of 33.6.

The tweet reads, "After 12 years, Brazil (49th) is once again among the 50 most innovative economies in the world in the Global Innovation Index (IGI). We moved up 5 positions compared to 2022. In Latin America, we overtook Chile and returned to the top spot."

Among the five countries that currently make up the BRICS bloc, Brazil ranks third, ahead of Russia (51st) and South Africa (59th) while China ranks 12th and India 40th.

Brazil stands out in indicators such as online government services (14th place) and e-participation (11th). It also stands out for the value of its 16 unicorns (the name given to start-ups that achieve a high market value in dollars), appearing in 22nd position, and for its intangible assets (31st), obtaining good results worldwide for its trademarks (13th) and the global value of its brands (39th).

According to the Brazilian National Confederation of Industries (CNI), despite gaining positions for the third consecutive year, Brazil is still far below its potential, as it has the 10th largest economy in the world. 

CNI president, Robson Braga de Andrade, said the country is in a position to grow every year in the ranking through investments and policies aimed at science, technology and innovation. "We have a lot of potential to exploit to improve our innovation ecosystem, achieve the goal of integrating the scientific and business sectors and, consequently, promote greater innovation," Andrade said. 

In institutions Brazil is only 99th in the world ranking, with a score of 38.5, while in human capital and research it ranks 56th (33.5 points), in infrastructure 58th (43.5), in market sophistication 50th (38.1) and in creative production 46th (31.2).

Potential in the Latin American region

In the region, in addition to Brazil, Uruguay and El Salvador advanced in the ranking with scores of 63 and 95 points, respectively.

Uruguay is the regional leader in institutions dedicated to innovation (31 in the world ranking), Peru leads in human capital and research (50) and Chile in infrastructure (52), while Brazil leads Latin America in business sophistication (39) and in knowledge and technology production (52).

WIPO's Global Innovation Index (GII) Inside 

The overall position of countries in the index is the result of a complex calculation that divides the indicators into "innovation inputs" (inputs) and "innovation outputs" (outputs), in which there are different weights for each indicator.

Inputs refer to the conditions and elements available to support innovation activities, such as education, the business environment and specialized human resources.

Meanwhile, the second category, outputs, indicates the performance of countries in terms of innovation produced, such as scientific output, patents, new products, services and processes.

The ranking has been published annually since 2007 by WIPO, in collaboration with the Portulans Institute and the support of international partners. Created in 2007, the IGI has become a reference in innovation assessment and a pillar in the formulation of science, technology and innovation policies.