The Netherlands has been ranked fifth in this year’s Global Innovation Index, a worldwide survey of economies’ innovation capabilities and results.

This is the seventh annual edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII), which is published by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The Netherlands’ ranking

In recent years the Netherlands has been steadily climbing the innovation index, moving from 9th position in 2011, to 6th in 2012 and then 4th in 2013. In 2014 the Netherlands sees its ranking lowered to 5th place, having been shifted by Finland, which jumped from 6th place in 2013 to 4th place this year.

The 2014 list is topped by Switzerland, which has now been ranked number one for at least four years running. The United Kingdom and Sweden are ranked second and third respectively. European nations Finland, Denmark and Luxembourg are also in the top 10.

2014 Global Innovation Index Top 10

How the Global Innovation Index works

The GII 2014 surveys 143 economies around the world, using 81 indicators which are divided into seven pillars. These include five input pillars to capture elements enabling innovative activities, and two output pillars to capture evidence of innovation outputs.

Input pillars

› Institutions
› Human capital and research
› Infrastructure
› Market sophistication
› Business sophistication

Output pillars

› Knowledge and technology outputs
› Creative outputs

Nations are analysed and ranked for each of the 81 indicators. The overall annual ranking is derived from the 81 indicator rankings.

The Netherlands' innovation strengths

The Netherlands ranks particularly well in the Institutions input pillar, where it is ranked fifth, and the Creative Output pillar, where it is ranked fourth.

Freedom of press, the regulatory environment and the ease of resolving insolvency are all institutional indicators for which the Netherlands ranks highly. The Netherlands also performs well with certain infrastructure indicators such as the government’s online services and general e-participation.

The creative output strengths are ICT and organisational model creation, creative goods and services, and online creativity.

The Netherlands' weaknesses

The Netherlands' innovation weaknesses lie in the Market Sophistication pillar where ease of getting credit and ease of protecting investors are both ranked low.

Highlighted weaknesses in the Business Sophistication pillar are percentage of gross domestic expenditure on R&D that is financed by abroad (10,9 per cent), and net inflows of foreign direct investment (-1,1 per cent of GDP).

A low percentage of Dutch science and engineering graduates in is also identified as a weakness in the Human Capital and Research pillar.