Sweden ranks second of all nations examined and scores 11 per cent higher than the United States, while Denmark ranks fourth. But all other EU-15 nations score below the United States , with Spain scoring just 68 per cent of US levels. With Greece and Portugal scoring below several developing nations, there is considerable variation between the lowest ranking and highest ranking European nation.

The analysis considered 40 countries and regions against 16 indicators of innovation and competitiveness, including innovation capacity, venture capital investment, the number of scientific researchers, levels of research spending, educational achievement, economic performance and the quality of the information technology infrastructure.

Overall, the United States leads Europe . The overall score of the EU-15 on the 16 indicators of global innovation and competitiveness is just 82 per cent of the US score. The EU-10 scores even lower at just 57 percent of the US level, as might be expected, given EU-10 countries´ recent emergence as market economies.

Within the EU-10 there is considerable variation as well, with Poland scoring at 55 per cent of US levels, but Estonia scoring above Spain, at 72 per cent of US levels.

Source: IPA World