How does the UK rank in the world’s 50 most innovative economies?
The UK lags behind 16 global economies when it comes to innovation, as Scandinavian countries plough ahead in pushing boundaries.
The UK has grasped on to its spot at number 17 for the second year, however, in Bloomberg's 2017 Innovation Index, which ranks 50 of the world's economies based on six factors which indicate a recipe for innovation.
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That includes areas such as research and development spending, the number of high-tech public companies based in the country, the number of graduates – particularly in science and engineering – and the number of researchers and patents filed.
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Sweden pulled ahead into second place, pushing Germany into third, while Switzerland and Finland climbed the rankings to round out the top five. But, South Korea retained its title as the world's most innovative economy, though its lead narrowed which the researchers compiling the index put down to a failure to improve productivity.
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Russia's ranking in the innovation index plummeted to 26, down from 12 a year earlier. "Battered by sanctions and the after-effects of a couple years of subdued energy prices, Russia’s solid scores last year in manufacturing and productivity were destroyed in this year’s tally," said Bloomberg.
The US fell one spot to ninth, while Israel climbed one spot, breaking into the top 10.
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