Brazil ranks 54th in innovation ranking

A survey released by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) shows that even advancing three positions in the Global Innovation Index (IGI), in comparison with 2021, Brazil continued this year, registering a drop in investments applied in the areas of innovation.

“The Brazilian position is seven houses below the best mark achieved, which was 47th place in 2011,” reveals CNI.

According to the study, the result of a partnership with the World Intellectual Property Organization, Brazil is currently in 54th place in 132 countries.

In the entity’s assessment, this improvement in classification “does not mean that the country is well on the innovation agenda since investments in the area have fallen yearly.

The IGI 2022 was calculated based on the average of two sub-indices: one relates to innovation inputs and evaluates “elements of the economy that enable and facilitate the development of innovative activities.

This index covers institutions, human capital, research, infrastructure, market sophistication, and business sophistication.

The other sub-index refers to “innovation outputs” and takes in the “actual output of innovative activities within the economy”. The indicator is divided into two pillars: one related to “products of knowledge and technology” and the other to “creative products”.

CNI

“Although Brazil has fallen in the ‘innovation inputs’ ranking, having worsened two positions (from 56th in 2021 to 58th in 2022), the country rose six positions in the innovation outputs ranking (59th to 53rd), which explains the improvement in the overall ranking,” says CNI.

For the entity’s Innovation Director, Gianna Sagazio, this means that, in terms of investment in innovation, Brazil has worsened. “However, it is as if the agents of the Brazilian ecosystem have done more with less and obtained better results in innovation, despite the drop in inputs/investment.”

Gianna explains that this improvement demonstrates that even amidst “structural difficulties of the innovation ecosystem in Brazil,” companies have done better than expected, which attests to the capacity of Brazilian companies.

“If there were perennial investments in innovation, which doesn’t happen, Brazil could be a powerhouse in innovation,” he adds.

According to the survey, the ten best-placed countries in the index are Switzerland, United States, Sweden, United Kingdom, Netherlands, South Korea, Singapore, Germany, Finland, and Denmark.

With information from Agência Brasil