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Switzerland is Europe’s most innovative country, EU study finds

cern in geneva
Swiss innovation on an ostentatious scale: CERN in Geneva. Keystone / Christian Beutler

An annual analysis by the European Commission notes that the Swiss score dropped slightly compared to last year, but not by enough to cost it its top spot.

Switzerland has headed up the European Commission’s Innovation Scoreboard for eight years running. The 2025 version of the report, which compares the 27 European Union (EU) member states and twelve other European countries, was published on Tuesday.

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This year, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK round out the top five. Outside Europe, South Korea is the most innovative country. The scoreboard looks at a total of 32 indicators covering different aspects of innovation.

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Compared with 2024, Switzerland scored lower this year – this was specifically due to a decline in the indicator for design applications, the report noted. However, access to fast internet, among other things, showed a positive trend.

Switzerland also boasts the most attractive research system in Europe, the report states.

Translated from French by DeepL/dos

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