Sweden retains its position as the most innovative Member State, ahead of Denmark which remains in 2nd place, and followed by the Netherlands, which also remains 3rd. All three countries have a performance above 125% of the EU average in 2026.
Resource and labour productivity improved across the group, with Denmark leading with a +50.5%-points change. The Netherlands (+31.1%-points) and Sweden (+19.4%-points) also recorded notable gains.
Finance and support improved across the group, with Denmark leading with a +47.9%-points change. Sweden (+43.4%-points) also recorded notable gains, while the Netherlands (+8.7%-points) had more moderate gains.
At the more detailed indicator level, the strongest improvements were found in Venture capital expenditures, Production-based CO2 productivity, and International scientific co-publications.
Venture capital expenditures are significantly higher than in 2019 for Sweden (+207.9%-points), Denmark (+159.8%-points), and the Netherlands (+34.4%-points), although the trend is negative for all three countries since 2024. Production-based CO2 productivity increased strongly across the group, with Denmark (+109.9%-points) increasing the most, followed by the Netherlands (+79.3%-points), and Sweden (+23.3%-points). For International scientific co-publications, Denmark (+65.9%-points) grew the most, followed by Sweden (+55.9%-points) and the Netherlands (+43.7%-points)
Sweden’s innovation performance picked up in 2026, after 3 years of relative stability. Sweden has attained their highest score in 2026 at 155.1 points with a growth of +7.6%-points.
Denmark’s performance has stabilised following a drop in 2025. Denmark’s score in 2026 is 150.2, up +6.2%-points since 2019.
The Netherlands’ performance has been relatively stable since 2022, with a slight dip (-1.7%-points) in 2026 to 142.1, which is still +7.1%-points higher than in 2019.
Download the full 2026 report recently published by the European Commission