The country's innovation output rose two places, bolstered by two export indicators that rank first globally.

The latest ranking meets the target set by the Government and marks a 16-place improvement over the past decade, advancing from 59th in 2016 to 43rd in 2026.

Vietnam retained its second-place standing among lower-middle-income economies, trailing India, which ranked 38th. Within ASEAN, Vietnam placed third behind Singapore (5th) and Malaysia (34th), while staying ahead of Thailand (44th).

Furthermore, Vietnam was named among the seven middle-income economies achieving the fastest progress in the rankings since 2013, maintaining above-expectation performance for its development level for 16 consecutive years.

A primary driver this year was innovation output, which advanced from 37th to 35th. Specifically, the knowledge and technology outputs pillar climbed four places to 35th, lifting the country's overall standing. Vietnam maintained its global number-one position in both high-tech exports and creative goods exports as a share of total trade.

Three additional indicators placed Vietnam in the global top 10: high-tech imports ranked third, mobile app creation fifth, and labor productivity growth sixth. Strong showings were also recorded in business-financed Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D (GERD) at 13th, domestic credit to the private sector at 14th, weighted average applied tariff rates at 15th, and both gross capital formation and domestic industry diversification at 19th.

Several input indicators also showed notable gains. Information and communication technology access jumped 11 places to 66th, while startup and scale-up financing rose six places to 44th. Among output metrics, patents by origin climbed three places to 63rd, high-tech manufacturing advanced one place to 25th, and production and export complexity advanced eight places to 44th.

Despite output improvements, Vietnam’s innovation input ranking slipped four places from 50th to 54th, reflecting lingering challenges in institutions, human resources, infrastructure, and education investment.

Published annually by WIPO, the GII assesses innovation capabilities across economies using input and output indicators spanning institutions, human capital, research, infrastructure, market sophistication, business sophistication, knowledge and technology, and creative outputs.

Vietnam is set to to break into the world's top 40 economies in the GII by 2030 and reach the top 30 by 2045.

Vietnam up two notches in Global Innovation Index ranking

VOV.VN - Vietnam has been ranked 44th out of 133 countries and economies in the Global Innovation Index 2024 report, up two notches compared to the 2023 ranking.