BERLIN, Germany: China has broken into the United Nations’ list of the world’s top 10 most innovative economies for the first time, edging Germany out of the group as Beijing’s firms ramp up investment in research and development.

The annual Global Innovation Index (GII) ranked Switzerland first, a position it has held since 2011, followed by Sweden and the United States. China took the 10th spot, while Germany slipped to 11th place. The survey evaluates 139 economies using 78 indicators covering areas from patent filings and R&D spending to digital infrastructure and education.

The report highlighted that China is on pace to become the world’s biggest spender on R&D as it narrows the gap in private-sector financing. In 2024, the country filed about a quarter of all international patent applications, far outpacing other nations. The United States, Japan, and Germany together accounted for 40 percent of applications, but each posted slight declines.

Patent ownership is considered a key gauge of a nation’s industrial know-how and long-term economic strength.

Still, the overall global innovation landscape looks less robust. The GII projected that growth in worldwide R&D spending will slow to 2.3 percent this year, down from 2.9 percent in 2024 — the weakest pace since the aftermath of the 2010 financial crisis.

GII co-editor Sacha Wunsch-Vincent said Germany’s drop should not be viewed as a long-term weakness, adding that the rankings did not capture the effects of tariffs recently imposed by the Trump administration.

Daren Tang, director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), said Germany faces the challenge of evolving from an industrial innovation engine into a leader in digital innovation.

The rest of the GII’s top 10, between the U.S. and China, included South Korea, Singapore, Britain, Finland, the Netherlands, and Denmark.