India ranks 57th in the world; improves slightly

​United Nations: India slightly improved its rank in an index of the world's most innovative economies, maintaining its position as the top exporter of IT services but still lagging in parameters of ease of starting a business, political stability and safety, and female employees with advanced degrees in the workforce. 

The Global Innovation Index (GII) rankings, published annually by Cornell University, INSEAD and the UN World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and GII Knowledge Partners, ranked India at the 57th spot this year, a slight improvement from the 60th position in 2017. India maintained its top place in the Central and Southern Asia region. 

However, it is noteworthy that while India is the top exporter of IT services, the use and access of information and communication technologies within the country is poor. India ranked 105th on IT access and 110th on IT use. 

Among lower middle-income economies, India moved up to the fifth position in the GII rankings. It has also outperformed on innovation relative to its GDP per capita for eight years in a row. 

India ranks well on a number of important indicators - productivity growth and exports of information and communication technology and services. “Given its size and innovation development, India has the potential to make a true difference to the global innovation landscape in the years to come,” said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry, another GII Knowledge Partner. 

Now in its 11th edition, the GII ranks 126 economies based on 80 indicators, ranging from intellectual property filing rates to mobile-application creation, education spending and scientific and technical publications. 

India performed well on a number of parameters but showed “weakness” in some categories. The country was the top exporter of IT services for the second consecutive year. The other areas of strength for India include the number of its science and engineering graduates, an area in which it ranked sixth overall.