Innovation is a fundamental driver of economic progress and an important determinant of international competitiveness. As highlighted in the NCPC’s Ireland’s Competitiveness Challenge 2022, innovation can play an important role in boosting productivity growth.

When measuring and benchmarking innovation in Ireland, the NCPC has to rely on composite indicators. However, while innovation indices provide an opportunity to better understand and to compare national innovation systems, they should be carefully contextualised within the structures and complexity of individual economies.

This Bulletin focuses on three indices measuring innovation: the Global Innovation Index (GII), the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS), and the European Digital Social Innovation Index (EDSII). High level results are provided below:

• Ireland’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index stood at 23rd in 2022, with a significantly stronger performance under innovation outputs (19th) compared to innovation inputs (25th). Ireland’s ranking has deteriorated in recent years. Ireland last reached the top 10 in 2018.
• While Ireland was regarded as a ‘Strong Innovator’ in the European Innovation Scoreboard 2023, our lead over lower ranking countries is shrinking, while the higher ranking “Innovation Leaders” are increasing their lead.
• Dublin ranks 18th in the European Digital Social Innovation Index, with a strong performance under ‘Skills’.

Composite indices of innovation are valuable tools to assess and benchmark Ireland’s performance versus international competitors; however, these indices should be interpreted with caution and must be understood in the broader macroeconomic and policy context. In particular, the use of GDP to denominate or scale indicator values risks misrepresenting Ireland’s actual performance.

The bulletin is available here.