"We should be pleased that for several years in a row Lithuania has been among the EU leaders in terms of innovation ecosystem progress. Since 2015, the aggregate innovation index has increased by almost 20 points, ranking us fourth in the EU. In other words, Lithuania is among the 5 EU countries that have most improved their innovation ecosystem over the period. This means that Lithuania's innovation ecosystem is progressing rapidly, and we are ahead of many EU countries in terms of progress," said Aušrinė Armonaitė, the Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
Lithuania's aggregate innovation index has risen this year to 92% of the EU average. This compares with 72.1% in 2015 and 85.6% in 2021.
Among the 32 Innovation Scoreboard indicators that have made the most progress, indicators reflecting business innovation and innovation performance are particularly important. Between 2015 and 2022, Lithuania has seen rapid improvements in the indicators for risk capital expenditure (+101.4 points); for product innovation (+59.4 points); for process innovation (+47.3 points); and for business R&D expenditure (+24 points).
Several innovation performance indicators also contributed to the progress. Between 2015 and 2022, the value of the indicator for Lithuanian trademark applications increased by 62.5 points; the value of the indicator for employment in innovative companies increased by 30.8 points; and the result for sales of innovative products increased by 26 points.
The progress of these indicators shows that Lithuanian business is becoming more and more innovative, and is increasingly focusing on innovation and R&D&I activities.
In the Innovation Scoreboard 2022, the European Commission has identified a number of indicators related to business innovation as strengths of the Lithuanian innovation ecosystem. The value of the indicator for business spending on innovation in Lithuania was 171% of the EU average; the value of the indicator for innovative enterprises collaborating with each other in Lithuania was 126% of the EU average; and the values of the indicator for enterprises innovating in products and processes in Lithuania were 115% and 112% of the EU average respectively. This means that Lithuania is above the EU average in these indicators, i.e. the level of development of these indicators in Lithuania is higher than the EU average.
Lithuania is also above the EU average for indicators such as brand applications (125% of the EU average) and employment in innovative enterprises (115% of the EU average).
Sweden has the highest ranking among EU countries in the EU Innovation Scoreboard, Romania the lowest.
