Lithuania improves its performance in the Global Innovation Index (GII) – this year, the country climbed one place to rank 32nd globally. Innovation Agency Lithuania highlights that this year, Lithuania ranks first globally in two indicators – employment of women with higher education and the value of unicorns relative to the size of the country’s economy.

Over the past six years, Lithuania’s position in the index has improved by eight places, from 40th in 2020 to 32nd this year. Among 39 European economies, Lithuania ranks 20th.

“Lithuania’s progress in the Global Innovation Index confirms that we are consistently moving in the direction of economic transformation we have chosen. By strengthening the country’s innovation potential, we encourage businesses and academia to develop more high-value-added products that serve as a driver of economic growth. Innovation increases business productivity, encourages companies to compete more actively in global markets, raises the country’s visibility and helps create high-value-added jobs faster. This recognition on the global innovation map is therefore the result of our consistent and systematic work to strengthen Lithuania’s innovation ecosystem,” says Edvinas Grikšas, Minister of Economy and Innovation.

Lithuania’s unicorn value amounts to 8.03% of GDP. Other areas of strength include the use of information and communication technologies (4th globally), entrepreneurship policy and culture, as well as the number of ISO 14001 environmental management system certifications (6th), the number of national feature films produced (8th), funding for startups and fast-growing companies, and mobile app creation (9th).

“Lithuania’s emerging strengths in the international context – talent, entrepreneurship and technological capabilities – provide a solid foundation for further growth. The greatest potential lies in our ability to bring these strengths together: enabling promising ideas to reach the market faster, fostering new innovations through stronger academia-business partnerships, and helping Lithuanian companies expand internationally. This is how Lithuania’s innovation potential can be turned into real, long-term value for the country’s economy,” says Dr Monika Paulė, Director of Innovation Agency Lithuania.

Other GII data also point to positive momentum in Lithuania’s innovation ecosystem. Between 2024 and 2025, the number of international patent applications filed in Lithuania increased by 68.2%, scientific publications by 12.1%, and venture capital deals by 9.5%.

Of the seven areas assessed by the Global Innovation Index, Lithuania performs best in institutions, ranking 20th globally. The country ranks 22nd in infrastructure, 28th in market sophistication, and 31st in knowledge and technology outputs.

The index also highlights areas where Lithuania’s position remains weaker. These include youth demographic potential (124th), software spending (102nd), high-tech imports (76th), and payments for intellectual property (73rd). Lower rankings are also recorded in knowledge creation and patenting, while Lithuania has further potential to strengthen business investment in R&D, academia-business collaboration and the commercialisation of knowledge.

The Global Innovation Index is published annually by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Covering around 80 indicators, the index assesses countries’ innovation ecosystems – from institutions, human capital, research and infrastructure to the business environment, technological and creative outputs.

In 2026, Switzerland ranked first in the Global Innovation Index for the 16th consecutive year. Latvia ranks 40th, while Estonia – the clear Baltic leader – ranks 17th. The index covers 139 economies worldwide.