Switzerland at the top of Europe-dominated Global Innovation Index 2012

Thanks to a large number of patent applications to the latest Global Innovation Index (GII), Switzerland is marked as the most innovative country in the world. Switzerland is placed number 1 in a list, which is dominated by European countries.

Apart from Switzerland, five EU member states took top-ten positions: Sweden followed Switzerland in second place, Finland and Denmark came fifth and sixth respectively, whilst the Netherlands and United Kingdom came ninth and tenth.

The index also showed a marked geographic division between European countries, however, with western and core countries outperforming their eastern and southern neighbours.

According to Francis Gurry, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), "Innovation is central to economic growth and to the creation of new and better jobs. It is the key to competitiveness for economies, for industries and for individual firms."

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