Austria Remains in Eighth Place in EU Innovation Ranking – Gap to the Top Widens

While the EU-wide leaders remain unchanged – Sweden (139 percent), Denmark, and the Netherlands – Switzerland tops the pan-European ranking with 141.3 percent of the EU average. Austria is therefore clearly positioned above the EU average but equally clearly behind the so-called "Innovation Leaders." Compared with its largest trading partner Germany (9th place), Austria has a narrow lead.

Austria's strengths lie in international networking, the attractiveness of the research system, intellectual potential, and public-sector financing and support. On the input side – that is, investments – the country even achieves a top value with 3rd place. On actual output, however, it manages only 8th place, as the report shows.

Strengths and Weaknesses in Detail

A closer look, however, reveals structural weaknesses: This becomes particularly evident in sales of market novelties and in-house innovations, where Austria has recorded a noticeable decline since 2025. The share of small and medium-sized enterprises introducing product or business process innovations fell by a medium-term 24.4 percentage points in product innovations and 21.2 percentage points in process innovations.

The area of venture capital also proves to be a chronic weak point: with risk capital investments of just 47.9 percent of the EU average, Austria ranks only 15th here. In the complementary European Startup and Scaleup Scoreboard (ESSS), the country is classified as "High-performing" with 113.8 percent of the EU average in 10th place, but the survey identifies a clear discrepancy between a high startup density and a below-average number of fast-growing companies.

In human resources overall, it manages only 14th place due to a comparatively lower rate of tertiary-educated individuals. The availability of high-speed internet lags behind with 23rd place in the EU comparison, though it has improved by 174.7 percentage points since 2019. Austria also performs somewhat below average in the area of digitalization.

In direct and indirect tax-based research funding for businesses, Austria takes fourth place, leaving Germany (23rd place) clearly in the rear. The share of foreign doctoral students (5th place) and public-private co-publications (3rd place) are also among the positive indicators.

Also worth highlighting is the eco-innovation index, which at 177.1 percent is well above the EU average of 127.5 percent. However, the consumption-based greenhouse gas footprint is nearly 20 percent too high. In design applications, Austria has recorded a decline of 49.7 percentage points since 2019, while patent applications (-16.8 percentage points) and trademark applications (-11.1 percentage points) have also shrunk.

Assessment from Politics and Business

The political assessment is mixed: Innovation Minister Peter Hanke emphasizes stability: "Platz 8 im European Innovation Scoreboard ist ein starkes Zeugnis für den Innovationsstandort Österreich. Dieses Ergebnis kommt nicht von ungefähr: Es ist der Verdienst unserer Unternehmen, Forschungseinrichtungen und der vielen klugen Köpfe in diesem Land." He points to the state's investment of 5.5 billion euros through the FTI Pact by 2029.

Economics Minister Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer stresses: "Das European Innovation Scoreboard zeigt klar: Österreich investiert überdurchschnittlich in Forschung und Innovation." The three ministries entrusted with the research agendas consider it "erfreulich" that the previous year's position could be maintained, "während viele Wirtschaftsindikatoren für Österreich ein schwieriges Umfeld anzeigen".

From the business side, more critical voices are heard: WKÖ Secretary-General Jochen Danninger sees the ranking as "Beleg für die Innovationskraft unserer Unternehmen und Forschungseinrichtungen", but warns: "Österreich behauptet sich im European Innovation Scoreboard 2026 erneut auf Rang 8 [...] gleichzeitig zeigt das aktuelle Ergebnis aber auch, dass wir auf diesem Erfolg nicht ausruhen dürfen."

European Context

Christoph Neumayer, Secretary-General of the Industriellenvereinigung (IV), draws a sporting analogy: "Wer an die Spitze will, darf nicht nur auf Ergebnisverwaltung spielen. Champions entstehen durch Geschwindigkeit und Angriff, nicht in der Defensive." The gap to the European leaders must not become "zum Dauerzustand", says Neumayer. Stefan Harasek, President of the Patent Office, also notes that Austria counts among "zu den Innovationsmotoren Europas" and "muss sich auch im internationalen Vergleich nicht verstecken".

Finland, which in previous years was firmly part of the leading group, lost momentum and dropped into Austria's performance category. The "Emerging Innovators" group this year comprises Croatia, Poland, Slovakia, Latvia, Bulgaria, and Romania.