Europe's Innovation Performance Continues to Improve, According to the 2026 European Innovation Scoreboard

The European Commission has published the 2026 European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS), showing that the European Union's innovation performance continues to strengthen. Since 2019, the EU's overall innovation score has increased by 11.6 percentage points, reflecting sustained progress in research, innovation and the capacity to translate knowledge into economic and societal value.

While innovation performance improved by 1.7 percentage points compared with last year, differences remain across Member States. Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands continue to lead the ranking as Innovation Leaders, with Malta joining the group of Strong Innovators for the first time.

Based on 32 indicators, the Scoreboard assesses innovation performance across areas including research and development, education, digitalisation, intellectual assets, business innovation and economic impact. As one of the European Commission's flagship monitoring tools, it provides valuable evidence for shaping policies that strengthen innovation ecosystems, foster knowledge valorisation and support the commercialisation of research results. The findings will inform key initiatives under the European Research Area, the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, and the forthcoming European Innovation Act.