Innovation and wealthy countries

X Y scatter chart showing the distribution of the 50 richest countries in GDP per capita by their innovation index. The top 10 are as follows. Qatar with an index of 0.52 and a GDP per capita of 137 thousand US$. Luxembourg with respectively 1.54 and 122. Norway 1.14 and 102. Denmark 1.6 and 68. Switzerland 2.23 and 66. Ireland 1.88 and 65. Iceland 2.17 and 63. Sweden 1.64 and 56. Netherlands 1.55 and 55. Kuwait 0.06 and 55.

Innovation, as measured by the International Innovation Index, looks like something that the poor cannot afford. Most of the top ranking innovative countries enjoy pretty comfortable GDP per capita. The poor do not rank well. However, money is not all. Some countries have lush revenues and concomitant mediocre innovation scores. This is the case of Qatar or Kuwait, proving that living on a rent may not be conducive to innovative high performance.

International Innovation Index 50 wealthiest countries in GDP per capita
Rank	Country	Overall Score (2009) ¹	Population 2008 (thousand)	GDP 2008 (billion US$) ²	GDP per capita (thousand US$)
1	Qatar	0.52	856	116.9	137
2	Luxembourg	1.54	472	57.6	122
3	Norway	1.14	4,727	481.1	102
4	Denmark	1.6	5,453	369.6	68
5	Switzerland	2.23	7,512	492.6	66
6	Ireland	1.88	4,380	285.0	65
7	Iceland	2.17	303	19.0	63
8	Sweden	1.64	9,160	512.9	56
9	Netherlands	1.55	16,450	909.5	55
10	Kuwait	0.06	2,919	159.7	55
11	Finland	1.87	5,293	281.2	53
12	Austria	1.15	8,391	432.4	52
13	Australia	1.02	20,951	1,069.0	51
14	France	1.12	61,946	2,978.0	48
15	Belgium	0.86	10,480	495.4	47
16	Canada	1.42	33,170	1,564.0	47
17	United States	1.8	308,798	14,330.0	46
18	Germany	1.12	82,534	3,818.0	46
19	United Kingdom	1.42	61,019	2,787.0	46
20	Italy	0.21	58,946	2,399.0	41
21	Japan	1.79	127,938	4,844.0	38
22	Spain	0.93	44,593	1,683.0	38
23	Singapore	2.45	4,490	154.5	34
24	Greece	0.12	11,172	373.5	33
25	New Zealand	0.77	4,215	135.7	32
26	Hong Kong SAR	1.88	7,279	223.8	31
27	Cyprus	0.63	864	25.6	30
28	Slovenia	0.37	2,002	57.0	28
29	Israel	1.36	7,045	188.7	27
30	Bahrain	0.27	766	19.7	26
31	Portugal	0.6	10,662	255.5	24
32	Czech Republic	0.41	10,183	217.2	21
33	Oman	-0.15	2,651	56.3	21
34	Malta	0.2	408	8.6	21
35	Slovakia	0.21	5,392	100.6	19
36	Saudi Arabia	-0.12	25,293	467.7	18
37	Trinidad and Tobago	-0.12	1,338	24.2	18
38	Korea, Republic of	2.26	48,388	857.5	18
39	Estonia	0.94	1,331	23.5	18
40	Latvia	0.12	2,265	33.9	15
41	Poland	-0.12	38,022	567.4	15
42	Lithuania	0.16	3,371	48.8	14
43	Croatia	-0.03	4,550	64.0	14
44	Hungary	0.51	10,000	131.4	13
45	Russian Federation	-0.09	141,780	1,757.0	12
46	Venezuela	-1.37	28,122	331.8	12
47	Chile	0.21	16,803	181.5	11
48	Mexico	-0.16	107,801	1,143.0	11
49	Turkey	-0.21	75,830	798.9	11
50	Romania	-0.29	21,344	213.9	10
¹ 2009 overall innovation index calculated by the Manufacturing Institute.
² GDP at official exchange rate, 2008 estimate

Sources: see Manufacturing Institute for the innovation index, United Nations Population Division for population data, and CIA - The World Factbook for GDP estimates.

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International Innovation Index50 wealthiest countries in GDP per capita

Rank

Country

Overall Score (2009) ¹

Population 2008(thousand)

GDP 2008(billion US$) ²

GDP per capita(thousand US$)

International Innovation Index
50 wealthiest countries in GDP per capita

Population 2008
(thousand)

GDP 2008
(billion US$) ²

GDP per capita
(thousand US$)