Global Innovation Index: Innovation Cluster Ranking (formerly Science and Technology Clusters)
WIPO's ranking of the world's top 100 innovation clusters, published with the Global Innovation Index, locates concentrations of inventors, scientific authors and venture-backed companies regardless of city or national borders. It is the main hard-data benchmark of where patenting and science happen, and cities often cite their cluster rank.
- Reliability
- Grade B · 10/12
- Ranks
- Startup ecosystems
- Editions
- 10 since 2017
- Method
- Data
- How items get in
- Compiled by the publisher
- Status
- Active
Editions
| Edition | Published | Top of the list | On record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | September 8, 2026 | Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou | 100 |
| 2025 Method changed | 2025 | Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou | 100 |
| 2024 | 2024 | Tokyo–Yokohama | 100 |
| 2023 | 2023 | Tokyo–Yokohama | 100 |
| 2022 | 2022 | Not recorded | At the publisher |
| 2021 | 2021 | Not recorded | At the publisher |
| 2020 | 2020 | Not recorded | At the publisher |
| 2019 | 2019 | Not recorded | At the publisher |
| 2018 | 2018 | Not recorded | At the publisher |
| 2017 Method changed | 2017 | Not recorded | At the publisher |
How the ranking works
Clusters are built bottom-up by geocoding inventor addresses on PCT international patent applications, author addresses on scientific articles (Web of Science Science Citation Index Expanded) and, since 2025, headquarters of companies receiving venture-capital deals (PitchBook). The DBSCAN algorithm groups dense points (15 km radius) into clusters that can span cities and borders.
Each cluster's global share of patents, articles and VC deals is computed and the shares are averaged with equal weights. For 2025, patents covered 2020 to 2024 publications and articles 2019 to 2023; 237 clusters were identified and the top 100 published. The 2025 addition of VC data is a method break that moved Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou above Tokyo-Yokohama; Berlin moved from #45 (2024) to #30 (2025).
Ranked positions: Each item has a position (1, 2, 3), with ties allowed. No applications or fees: WIPO identifies clusters algorithmically from geocoded patent, publication and venture-capital records. WIPO is a UN agency funded mainly by fees from its international IP filing systems.
How far to trust it
Superscout grades every ranking on six criteria, each scored 0 to 2. Global Innovation Index: Innovation Cluster Ranking (formerly Science and Technology Clusters) scores 10 of 12, grade B.
- Transparency 2/2
- Data sources, algorithm parameters and weights are published.
- Independence 2/2
- UN agency; algorithmic census with no applications or fees.
- Evidence 2/2
- Patent filings, scientific articles and VC deals.
- Stability 1/2
- Indicators added over time, including VC data in 2025.
- Coverage 1/2
- Publishes only the top 100 of about 237 identified clusters.
- Track record 2/2
- Ten editions since 2017.
History
WIPO first published a top-100 cluster ranking in the 2017 Global Innovation Index, based on PCT patent data. Scientific publications were added later, and the ranking became a regular GII component under the name Science and Technology Clusters. In 2025 it was renamed the Innovation Cluster Ranking and venture-capital deals were added as a third indicator.
Tokyo-Yokohama ranked first in the 2023 and 2024 lists; Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou has led since 2025.
How it is received
The ranking is widely cited by governments and press (for example the Hong Kong government's September 2026 statement on its cluster remaining #1). Because it counts patents, papers and deals, it measures volume of inventive and research output rather than quality or commercial outcomes, and cluster boundaries set by the algorithm can merge or split metro areas, which affects comparability with city rankings. No specific published critique was reviewed for this file.
Strengths
- Built on hard, verifiable patent, publication and VC data.
- Clusters defined by activity, not administrative borders.
- Full top 100 published free each year.
- Run by a UN agency with no fees for inclusion.
Weaknesses
- Volume-based: favors large clusters over intensity or quality (a separate intensity list exists).
- Method break in 2025 (VC added) limits comparison with earlier years.
- Algorithmic boundaries can merge several cities into one cluster.
- Patent data lag the ranking year by one to two years.
Open questions
Facts not verified yet. They stay visible so they are not mistaken for settled facts.
- Lists and leaders for 2017 to 2022 not loaded; WIPO's archived GII pages for those years were unreachable in this session.
- Exact release days for 2017 to 2025 editions not confirmed.
- 2023 and 2024 lists were transcribed by a summarizing fetch of WIPO pages rather than from raw data; minor name or order errors are possible.
Superscout describes Global Innovation Index: Innovation Cluster Ranking (formerly Science and Technology Clusters) independently from the publisher’s own pages and outside coverage, linked below. The rankings belong to World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Sources and known limits
Last reviewed .
- Innovation Cluster Ranking 2026 (WIPO)
- Top 100 Innovation Clusters - Table (2026 Flourish data)
- Innovation Cluster Ranking 2025 (WIPO)
- Top 100 Innovation Clusters - Table (2025 Flourish data)
- Science and Technology Cluster Ranking 2024 (WIPO)
- Science and Technology Cluster Ranking 2023 (WIPO)
- Innovation Cluster Rating (Wikipedia)
- Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster remains No. 1 (HKSAR Government press release)