On September 16 (Vietnam time), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland. According to the report, Vietnam retained its 44th position out of 139 countries and economies, ranking third in ASEAN behind Singapore and Malaysia, and ahead of Thailand.

Notably, Vietnam ranks second among lower-middle-income countries, after India, and remains one of the few economies to consistently outperform its level of development in innovation for 15 consecutive years. This reflects the country’s efficiency in translating input resources into innovation outputs.

The report highlights Vietnam’s continued improvement in innovation outputs index, moving up three places from 53rd in 2023 to 50th in 2025. Significant progress was recorded in the pillars of Institutions, Market Sophistication, and Business Sophistication. Specifically, regulatory stability improved by 14 places (28th), weighted average tariff rates by 28 places (20th), and university–industry research collaboration by 15 places (51st).

In terms of innovation outputs index, although Vietnam dropped one rank compared to 2024 (from 36th to 37th), it still performed better in outputs than inputs. Key highlights include international patent applications (up 17 places to 74th), production and export complexity (up 9 places to 52nd), and open-source software activity on GitHub (up 8 places to 48th).

Remarkably, Vietnam ranked first globally in three indicators: high-tech imports, high-tech exports, and creative goods exports. The country also entered the global top 10 in several areas, including labor productivity growth (4th), mobile app creation (7th), and business-funded R&D expenditure as a share of total R&D (8th).

Alongside these achievements, the report also pointed out several challenges. These include the quality of regulatory frameworks (95th), education expenditure as a share of GDP (116th), high secondary school student–teacher ratios (107th), and declining performance in ICT infrastructure and venture capital investment. Vietnam also lagged in ICT service exports, scientific publications, copyright registrations, and creative services.

Since 2016, when it ranked 59th, Vietnam has steadily climbed the GII ladder to reach 44th place in 2025. WIPO recognized Vietnam as one of the nine fastest-improving middle-income economies over the past decade, alongside China, India, Turkey, the Philippines, Indonesia, Iran, Morocco, and Albania.

With these results, Vietnam continues to be seen as a bright spot in the region and globally, demonstrating the role of innovation as a key driver of sustainable growth and development.

Source: Compiled by the Multilateral Trade Policy Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade of Viet Nam