Bloomberg Innovation Index
A Bloomberg News ranking of national innovation built from seven equally weighted hard-data metrics such as R&D intensity, patents and high-tech company density. Published roughly annually from 2013 to 2021, it was widely quoted in the press, with South Korea first in most years.
- Reliability
- Grade B · 9/12
- Publisher
- Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg News)
- Ranks
- Economies
- Editions
- 9 since 2013
- Method
- Data
- How items get in
- Compiled by the publisher
- Status
- Dormant
Editions
| Edition | Published | Top of the list | On record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | February 3, 2021 | South Korea | 12 of 60 |
| 2020 | January 18, 2020 | Germany | 14 of 60 |
| 2019 | January 22, 2019 | South Korea | 60 |
| 2018 | January 22, 2018 | South Korea | 13 |
| 2017 | January 17, 2017 | South Korea | 9 of 50 |
| 2016 | January 19, 2016 | South Korea | 5 |
| 2015 | 2015 | South Korea | 10 of 50 |
| 2014 | 2014 | South Korea | 50 |
| 2013 | 2013 | United States | 1 |
How the ranking works
The index averaged seven equally weighted metrics: R&D intensity (spending as a share of GDP), manufacturing value added, productivity, high-tech density (share of domestic high-tech public companies), tertiary efficiency (enrollment and science and engineering graduates), researcher concentration, and patent activity. Data came from the World Bank, IMF, WIPO, USPTO, OECD and UNESCO (per Wikipedia's Bloomberg L.P. article) plus Bloomberg's own company data.
Bloomberg considered 200-plus economies and dropped those reporting data in fewer than six of the seven categories; in 2017 that left 78 scored economies and in 2019 about 95, of which the top 50 (to 2017) or 60 (2019 to 2021) were published. Scores are on a 0 to 100 scale.
Ranked positions: Each item has a position (1, 2, 3), with ties allowed. Bloomberg scored every economy with enough public data (200-plus considered; those reporting fewer than six of seven categories dropped) and published the top 50 or 60. No application or fee.
How far to trust it
Superscout grades every ranking on six criteria, each scored 0 to 2. Bloomberg Innovation Index scores 9 of 12, grade B.
- Transparency 1/2
- Metrics and equal weights described, but data and full tables are paywalled.
- Independence 2/2
- News organization with no fees or applications.
- Evidence 2/2
- All seven metrics are hard statistical data.
- Stability 1/2
- Metric set stable, but published list size changed from 50 to 60.
- Coverage 1/2
- Top 50 to 60 of about 80 to 95 qualifying economies.
- Track record 2/2
- About nine editions, 2013 to 2021.
History
Bloomberg News began the index around 2013; its 2018 article describes the gauge as six years old and The CEO Magazine calls the 2020 edition the eighth. The United States led the first edition, South Korea ranked first from 2014 through 2019, Germany in 2020 and South Korea again in 2021. The published list grew from 50 to 60 economies by 2019.
The February 2021 edition is the last one found. Bloomberg has not published a formal notice ending the series.
How it is received
The index drew heavy press and government coverage: the European Commission's research directorate, Singapore's UN mission in Geneva and Israeli media all publicized results, and academics such as Savrul and Incekara (2015) used its scores as an innovation measure. Its appeal was simplicity: seven hard-data metrics and a short ranking.
No substantive published critique was found in this pass. Evident limitations are that it measures inputs and capacity (R&D spending, graduates, patents) rather than commercial outcomes, that economies missing data are dropped entirely, and that results sit behind Bloomberg's paywall.
Strengths
- Uses only hard statistical data, with no survey component.
- Seven equally weighted metrics make the method easy to follow.
- Annual series from 2013 to 2021 allows trend comparison.
Weaknesses
- Dormant since 2021, so results are dated.
- Full tables and metric scores are behind Bloomberg's paywall.
- Economies with missing data are excluded rather than estimated.
- Measures innovation inputs more than outcomes.
Open questions
Facts not verified yet. They stay visible so they are not mistaken for settled facts.
- Whether Bloomberg published any edition after February 2021, or formally ended the index, is unconfirmed.
- 2013 edition date, list size and entries not found; 2014 and 2015 exact release dates not found.
- 2017 ranks 7 to 9 conflict between sources (Japan, Denmark, United States order).
- 2015 top 10 order comes from a search snippet of a page blocked to fetching; unverified.
- Full lists for 2015 to 2018, 2020 and 2021 are paywalled; only partial ranks loaded.
- Published list size for 2016 and 2018 not confirmed (50 or 60).
Superscout describes Bloomberg Innovation Index independently from the publisher’s own pages and outside coverage, linked below. The rankings belong to Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg News).
Sources and known limits
Last reviewed .
- South Korea Leads World in Innovation as U.S. Exits Top Ten (Bloomberg, 2021)
- Bloomberg Innovation Index 2021 (European Commission RTD)
- Bloomberg Innovation Index 2021 (aenert)
- Israel Drops To 7th Spot In 2021 Bloomberg Index (NoCamels)
- Bloomberg reveals the world's most innovative countries in 2020 (The CEO Magazine)
- The World's Most Innovative Economies (Visual Capitalist)
- Six European countries make the 2018 Bloomberg Innovation Index top 10 (Silicon Republic)
- The U.S. Drops Out of the Top 10 in Innovation Ranking (Bloomberg, 2018)
- Singapore among the world's most innovative economies (Singapore Mission Geneva, 2017)
- Israel secures top-10 ranking in 2017 Bloomberg Innovation Index (Jerusalem Post)
- These Are the World's Most Innovative Economies (Bloomberg, 2016)
- The Bloomberg Innovation Index 2015
- Savrul and Incekara (2015), The Effect of R&D Intensity on Innovation Performance
- Bloomberg L.P. (Wikipedia), Bloomberg Innovation Index section