Global Innovation Index 2025
WIPO + Portulans Institute · Published 16 September 2025
Latest edition: 16 September 2025 · Next expected: September 2027
This ranking is flawed. The method is mostly sound and independently audited, but corporate partner contributions are not itemized.
What the report claims
The Global Innovation Index measures innovation with about 80 indicators across inputs (institutions, human capital, infrastructure, market and business sophistication) and outputs (knowledge, technology, and creative outputs), drawn from official statistics published by UNESCO, the World Bank, the ITU, and WIPO itself. India ranks 38th of 139, with a score of 38.1, up from 39th in 2024 and 81st in 2015. It is first among lower-middle-income economies and first in Central and Southern Asia. The full methodology, indicator weights, and data files are published, and the EU Joint Research Centre independently audits the arithmetic.
The Credibility Score, dimension by dimension
- Methodology transparency / replicability
- 16 / 20
- Source verifiability + measurement integrity
- 16 / 25
- Internal consistency of India’s place
- 14 / 20
- Construct validity / India coverage
- 7 / 10
- Independence and funding
- 9 / 20
- Accountability (corrections, versioning)
- 4 / 5
Funding and independence: WIPO is a United Nations agency whose public budget comes mainly from fees on international patent, trademark, and design filings, plus a smaller share from member-state contributions, and it publishes the index with the non-profit Portulans Institute. Member states govern WIPO and its mandate is to promote intellectual property, which shapes what counts as innovation. The edition omits the cost of producing the index and the Portulans donor list and amounts, though a uniform formula, an external advisory board, and the Joint Research Centre statistical audit limit how far any one funder can move a rank.
Sources: WIPO, Global Innovation Index 2025
Updated 9 November 2026