European innovation scoreboard

What is the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS)

The European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) measures and compares how well EU countries - and a number of non-EU countries - perform on research and innovation. Published every year by the European Commission, it gives governments and policymakers a clear picture of their country's innovation strengths and weaknesses, and how they compare to others.

The 2026 edition was published on 9 July 2026. For the first time, it also includes Georgia, which participates in Horizon Europe, the EU's research and innovation programme.

European Innovation Scoreboard 2026

Europe continues to perform well in innovation, showing a steady growth over time. According to the 2026 EIS, the EU's innovation performance increased by 11.6 percentage points since 2019. It is also worthwhile noting that it improved by 1.7 percentage points from 2025 to 2026, after a year of slower growth.

All EU has improved their innovation scores since 2019, but the pace of progress varies significantly across the Union. All in all, the EU’s innovation performance has seen almost a decade of continuous growth.

Similarly to the previous editions, the European Innovation Scoreboard 2026 categorises Member States in four innovation groups based on their scores: Innovation Leaders (performance is above 125% of the EU average), Strong Innovators (between 100% and 125% of the EU average), Moderate Innovators (between 70% and 100% of the EU average) and Emerging Innovators (below 70% of the EU average).

In terms of countries performance Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands continue to lead the way as Innovation Leaders, with innovation performance well above the EU average. Finland stays in a stable fourth position. Malta has made remarkable progress, surpassing for the first time the Strong Innovators threshold.

On the global stage, South Korea remains the most innovative competitor, and China has consistently improved its innovation performance.