South Korea, Sweden, and Germany top the 2017 Bloomberg Innovation Index, which ranks economies based on factors such as research and development spending and the concentration of high-tech public companies, reports Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, with a total score of 57.06, Romania is 38th among the 50 innovative economies included in the ranking.

Romania is less innovative than countries such as Greece (30th), Hungary (27th), and Poland (22nd), but ranks better than Croatia (41st), Ukraine (42nd), and Serbia (43rd).

Romania recorded the highest position, 14th, for the manufacturing value-added indicator, but ranks 49th when it comes to the indicator measuring the percentage of GDP allocated to research and development.

The biggest loser in the 2017 edition of the Bloomberg Innovation Index is Russia, which lost 14 spots, going down to number 26. “Battered by sanctions and the after-effects of a couple years of subdued energy prices, Russia’s solid scores last year in manufacturing and productivity were destroyed in this year’s tally,” writes Bloomberg.

Japan also went down three places, from number 4 to number 7, and so did Croatia, which dropped to 41st from 38th. The U.S. fell one position to number 9.

Global Innovation Index report places Romania 6th from bottom in Europe

Three Romanian companies included in this year’s Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA ranking

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com