European Innovation Scoreboard 2026: Germany remains one of Europe’s leading innovation locations

Germany continues to rank among Europe’s strongest innovation performers. This is confirmed by the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) 2026 published by the European Commission. Germany ranks ninth among the 27 EU Member States and is once again classified as a “Strong Innovator”. Its innovation performance increased by 3.0 percentage points compared with the previous year. The report confirms the strength of Germany’s research and innovation system, while also highlighting areas where further action is needed.

The European Innovation Scoreboard provides an annual comparative assessment of the research and innovation performance of the EU Member States. It evaluates 32 indicators covering areas such as research and development investment, digitalisation, scientific excellence, business innovation and the commercialisation of research results.

Germany performs strongly in research, digitalisation and business investment

Germany performs particularly well in business expenditure on research and development, digitalisation and the use of information and communication technologies. Innovation-driven exports are another key strength of the German innovation system.

Since 2019, Germany has also recorded particularly dynamic growth in the use of cloud technologies and high-speed digital infrastructure. These developments provide an important basis for future technologies such as artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, data-driven research and digital innovation.

The results underline Germany’s strong research and industrial base and demonstrate the importance of close cooperation between academia, business and policymakers.

Germany needs to translate research strengths into market success

At the same time, the report identifies areas in which Germany needs to improve its innovation performance. The country has recorded declines in intellectual assets, including patent, trademark and design applications. The innovation activity of small and medium-sized enterprises also remains a challenge.

Germany’s innovation performance has grown more slowly since 2019 than the EU average. Several other Member States have increased their performance more rapidly and are gradually closing the gap with Europe’s strongest innovation countries.

The findings show that excellent research alone is not sufficient. Scientific knowledge must be transferred more quickly into market-ready products, technologies, services and successful new businesses.

Europe must strengthen its innovation capacity in global competition

The European Innovation Scoreboard 2026 also highlights the growing importance of innovation for Europe’s competitiveness, resilience and technological sovereignty. In the global competition for key technologies, the EU continues to face strong pressure from countries that are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum technologies and digital infrastructure.

Europe has a strong scientific base and internationally recognised research institutions. However, it must improve the transfer of knowledge into commercial applications and create better conditions for innovative companies to grow and scale within the Single Market.

As one of Europe’s leading research and innovation locations, Germany has an important role to play in strengthening Europe’s technological and economic competitiveness.

European research funding supports innovation and cooperation

European funding programmes such as Horizon Europe support universities, research organisations, companies, start-ups and SMEs in developing innovative solutions through international cooperation.

The Bavarian Research Alliance (BayFOR) supports stakeholders from Bavaria in accessing European research and innovation funding. Its services include identifying suitable funding opportunities, finding international partners, developing project concepts and supporting the preparation of competitive proposals.

Further information and the full European Innovation Scoreboard 2026 are available on the European Commission’s website.