Lithuania has reached a new milestone in the Global Innovation Index, climbing two places to 33rd among 139 countries. This is Lithuania’s highest position ever and a strong signal of the country’s rapid progress in building a competitive and innovation-driven economy.

“Lithuania is making remarkable progress in innovation, which is also reflected in the Global Innovation Index. This achievement is especially significant given the current global economic uncertainty and ongoing geopolitical challenges that directly affect our region’s investment climate. Yet we continue moving in the right direction — towards building a high value-added, startup-driven innovation ecosystem,” said Acting Minister of Economy and Innovation, Lukas Savickas.

Lithuania’s strengths lie in areas that are directly shaping its dynamic startup ecosystem. The country ranks 3rd globally for the share of women with higher education employed in the labor force, 8th for mobile app development, and continues to lead in unicorn value relative to GDP. These results highlight Lithuania’s role as an agile and forward-looking innovation hub. 

“Efforts to strengthen the innovation ecosystem — from fostering science-business collaboration to investing in knowledge and infrastructure — are clearly paying off. At the same time, we must address gaps such as access to domestic credit for the private sector, limited youth demographics, and weaker international R&D-business partnerships, if we want to unlock the full potential of Lithuania’s startups,” noted Kotryna Tamoševičienė, Head of the Research and Analysis Department at Innovation Agency Lithuania. 

Switzerland retained its #1 position in the index. Among Baltic peers, Estonia ranked 16th and Latvia 41st, while Poland placed 39th. 

“This year’s Global Innovation Index shows the world at a turning point for innovation. After a decade of strong growth in R&D and venture capital, global data suggests a slower phase ahead. Although investment continues to grow, the pace is the weakest since 2010,” added K. Tamoševičienė. 

Compiled and published annually by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Global Innovation Index provides the most comprehensive global overview of innovation ecosystems. It evaluates around 80 indicators to highlight countries’ innovation strengths and weaknesses. 

More details on the latest Global Innovation Index and Lithuania’s performance can be found here.