Bloomberg Ranks Most Innovative Countries; Israel In Top 10

By Einat Paz-Frankel, NoCamels January 18, 2017 2 minutes

tel aviv israel by barak brinker

Israel, also known as the Startup Nation, is the tenth most innovative nation in the world, according to Bloomberg News, which yesterday released its Bloomberg Innovation Index for 2017.

Ranking 50 countries, the index is based on the strength of each country’s research and development; productivity; high-tech density; higher education; concentration of researchers; added value in manufacturing; and patent activity.

Israel leads the world in the number of researchers per capita, it is second in research and development, and the third in high-tech density. Overall, the Startup Nation ranks at No. 10 this year, moving up one notch from 2016.

Tel Aviv at Night via PikiWiki

The most innovative nation in the world, according to the Bloomberg Innovation Index, is South Korea, followed by Sweden and Germany. Rounding out the top-five list are Switzerland and Finland; the US ranks at No. 9; France, Ireland, China and the UK are all ranked below Israel.

The least innovative nation, according to Bloomberg, is Morocco, at No. 50, with Argentina and Kazakhstan at No. 49 and No. 48, respectively.

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Bloomberg’s report comes on the heels of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report, which ranked Israel as the second-most innovative nation in the world. WEF ranks countries’ competitiveness based on 12 categories, including innovation, technological readiness, business sophistication and higher education.

Stellar year for Israeli startups

Despite a slowdown in some areas, Israel had a strong 2016 overall, with startups raising a record $4.8 billion from investors, according to IVC Research Center. In addition, last year Israeli high-tech and startup companies were sold for a whopping $10.02 billion – to other companies or through initial public offerings (IPOs).

With the largest number of startups per capita in the world, Israel is home to 2,000 startups that were founded in the past decade; another 3,000 small- and medium-size startup and high-tech companies; 30 growth companies; 50 large technology companies; and 300 R&D centers of multinational corporations, according to a report released recently by Israel’s Innovation Authority.