The Republic of Moldova ranks 68th in WIPO’s Global Innovation Index 2026 and rejoins the Group of Innovation Performance Economies

02.10.2026

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has launched the 2026 edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII), one of the leading international tools for benchmarking innovation performance.

The GII evaluates each economy based on seven pillars across two broad categories. On one hand, there are innovation “resources” (inputs): institutions, human capital and research, infrastructure, market sophistication, and business sophistication. On the other hand, there are innovation “results” (outputs): knowledge and technology outputs and creative outputs. Thus, the GII measures not only how much a country invests in innovation but also how effectively it transforms those investments into tangible results.

This year’s edition analyzes 139 economies and tracks the evolution of innovation ecosystems, ranging from research and development investments and digital infrastructure to technological outputs, intellectual property assets and creative products.

With a score of 30.3, the Republic of Moldova ranks 68th globally, marking a six-place improvement compared to the previous edition, when it ranked 74th. Moldova also ranks 15th out of the 35 economies in the upper-middle-income group. The Republic of Moldova records results below the regional average across all seven pillars and ranks 35th out of 39 European economies.

A notable aspect highlighted by WIPO is the Republic of Moldova’s return to the group of economies whose innovation performance exceeds expectations for their level of economic development (“innovation overperformers”). In 2026, this group comprises 21 economies, and the Republic of Moldova has rejoined this category, marking its 15th appearance in GII editions.

Better Results in Transforming Resources into Innovation Outcomes

The Republic of Moldova’s profile in the 2026 GII highlights a significant gap between innovation inputs and the outcomes generated from them. Moldova ranks 94th in terms of innovation inputs, while it stands at 51st place for innovation outputs.

According to WIPO, this positioning reflects the economy’s capacity to transform relatively limited resources into innovation outcomes, with a significant contribution from digital components.

Compared to the 2025 edition, the results indicate an improvement in both the overall ranking and performance regarding innovation inputs and outputs. In 2025, the Republic of Moldova ranked 89th for inputs and 62nd for outputs.

Startup Ecosystem Dynamics

The 2026 GII results are reported against the backdrop of a dynamic national startup ecosystem. According to the Startup Blink Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2026, the Republic of Moldova recorded a 91.9% increase in its startup ecosystem score compared to the previous edition, the fastest growth in Europe and the third-fastest globally. The Republic of Moldova ranks 82nd in the global startup ecosystem rankings.

Strengthening the innovation ecosystem is also supported by new funding mechanisms. On September 30, 2026, the Moldova Innovation Fund was launched, managed by the Moldova Innovation Technology Park (MITP), with funding from the European Union through the EU4Innovation East project. The fund has an initial budget of over €1 million for the next 24 months and aims to provide non-repayable funding to technology projects at the pre-seed and seed stages.

Concurrently, in September 2026, six organizations from the Republic of Moldova received grants totaling over €1 million under the EU4Innovation East initiative to develop programs for startups and entrepreneurs, from the stage of idea and incubation to acceleration, investment readiness, and international expansion.

Challenges and Prospects

At the same time, the Republic of Moldova’s profile in the GII highlights the need to further strengthen its innovation resource base and the linkages between research, the business sector, finance, and markets. The Republic of Moldova holds less favorable rankings in areas such as business sophistication (135th place), infrastructure (95th place), and institutions (88th place). The availability of venture capital, investment in digital technologies within the traditional SME sector, and the capacity to transform innovation outcomes into competitive products and services remain key areas for the development and strengthening of the national innovation ecosystem.

In this context, the GII 2026 underscores that innovation performance depends not only on the level of available resources but also on the capacity of economies to effectively connect research, enterprises, finance, skills, institutions, and markets within a functional ecosystem.

Globally, Switzerland, Sweden, and the United States of America retain the top three positions in the GII 2026 rankings, followed by the Republic of Korea and Singapore. Switzerland holds the first position in the global rankings for the 16th consecutive year.

The 2026 edition of the Global Innovation Index features a special theme focused on transformation of frontier research into new industries, with an emphasis on science-based startups and the conditions required for them to turn research and intellectual property into scalable commercial activities.

Further information and the full results of the 2026 Global Innovation Index are available on the official WIPO webpage.