The UK has been ranked second out of a total of 141 economies in the Global Innovation Index (GII), while Japan came in 19th place, economia magazine reported on 18 September.
The UK has had the most rapid progress in innovation among the top 10 GII nations, moving from 10th place in 2011 to second in 2014. It scored well in infrastructure, market sophistication, knowledge, technology and creative outputs.
In terms of innovation quality—measured by university performance, the reach of scholarly articles and the international dimension of patent applications—the top performers are the US, the UK, Japan, Germany and Switzerland.