Europe’s performance in the field of innovation is becoming more firmly established against a backdrop of global competition

Europe’s innovation performance continues to improve, with the EU’s overall score having risen by 11.6 percentage points since 2019, according to the 2026 European Innovation Scoreboard, recently published by the European Commission. This result reflects almost a decade of steady growth and highlights the resilience of Europe’s innovation ecosystem in an increasingly competitive global environment.

Between 2025 and 2026, the EU’s innovation performance improved by 1.7 percentage points, following a more modest increase of 0.5 percentage points in the previous year. Although all EU Member States have made progress, results vary considerably from one country to another.

Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands once again top the rankings, exceeding the EU average and retaining their status as ‘innovation leaders’. Finland remains in a solid and stable fourth position, whilst Malta has made notable progress, crossing the threshold to become a ‘strong innovator’ (reaching between 100 and 125 per cent of the EU average).

 

More information: European Commission