European Commission Reveals 2025 Regional Innovation Performance

2025-07-16 community

Amsterdam, Wednesday, 16 July 2025.
The 2025 Regional Innovation Scoreboard shows innovation has improved in 233 out of 239 regions. Stockholm leads, highlighting regional disparities and potential strategic growth areas, especially for the Netherlands.

Regional Innovation Scoreboard: A Comprehensive Analysis

The European Commission’s release of the Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS) for 2025 marks a significant milestone in understanding the diverse landscape of innovation across Europe. This detailed assessment, building upon the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS), extends its reach by focusing on tailored regional insights, promoting knowledge exchange and best practices. The report evaluates 241 regions using 23 of the 32 indicators from the EIS, thereby classifying them into four groups: Innovation Leaders, Strong Innovators, Moderate Innovators, and Emerging Innovators [1][2].

Stockholm: Europe’s Innovation Pinnacle

Stockholm, Sweden, emerges as the most innovative region in Europe, followed closely by Hovedstaden in Denmark, London in the United Kingdom, Zürich in Switzerland, and Oberbayern in Germany. Stockholm’s leadership highlights not only Sweden’s consistent performance at the national level but also the significant disparities in innovation capacity across the continent, underscoring potential areas for strategic growth and investment [1][3].

Innovation Trends Across European Regions

Innovation performance has seen considerable improvement, with 233 out of 239 regions recording positive growth between 2018 and 2025. This trend underscores a resilient trajectory in most European regions. However, it also points to enduring challenges in regions with traditionally lower performance. Noteworthy are the ‘pockets of excellence’ identified in nations with lower overall innovation scores, signaling opportunities for targeted innovation policies [1][3].

Netherlands and Regional Innovation Insights

The Netherlands, ranking third in the 2025 European Innovation Scoreboard, follows Sweden and Denmark. Despite this strong overall position, the Netherlands has witnessed a decline in its innovation score for two consecutive years. This decline has sparked discussions among Dutch policymakers, emphasizing the need for increased investments in research and development to maintain its competitive edge. The recently approved ‘3%-R&D-Action Plan’ by Minister Vincent Karremans aims to address these challenges by targeting a 3% GDP investment in R&D by 2030 [4][5].

Bronnen

innovation European Commission