The Netherlands climbs to 7th in the 2026 Global Innovation Index, with Australia back in the top 20

The latest WIPO rankings place both countries among the world’s innovation leaders, and their strengths point to a natural partnership.

The Netherlands has moved up one place to 7th in the 2026 Global Innovation Index (GII), published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which assesses the innovation performance of 139 economies. Australia has also returned to the top 20, ranking 20th.

Switzerland holds first place for a 16th consecutive year, ahead of Sweden and the United States. Europe accounts for 14 of the 25 leading economies, and the Netherlands now ranks 4th among European economies.

How the Netherlands earns its place

WIPO describes the Dutch model as one that pairs knowledge creation with international business connectivity. The Netherlands ranks 9th for innovation inputs and 7th for outputs, which means it turns its investment in research into commercial results more effectively than most of its peers. It also ranks 2nd in the world for university, industry and international engagement among leading institutions.

Two Dutch clusters feature in WIPO’s top 100 worldwide. Amsterdam-Rotterdam ranks 26th by scale, while Eindhoven ranks among the ten most innovation-intensive clusters in the world and first in the European Union.

Dutch city of Eindhoven ranks among the ten most innovation-intensive clusters in the world and first in the European Union.

Australia regains ground

Australia’s return to the top 20 is part of a wider recovery among mature innovation systems, with Canada and New Zealand also moving back up the ranking. WIPO credits world-class universities (4th), stronger university-industry R&D collaboration (6th) and a big improvement in cluster development (5th).

Victoria has a direct stake in these results. Melbourne is one of two Australian cities among WIPO’s top 100 innovation clusters, ranking 53rd, with Sydney at 38th, although both eased back slightly on their 2025 positions.

The report is also candid about the gap. Australia ranks 13th for innovation inputs but 24th for outputs, and 72nd for production and export complexity. Put simply, Australia generates excellent research and talent but converts less of it into products and exports than comparable economies.

Why this matters for Dutch-Australian business

That gap is where the two economies complement each other. The Netherlands is one of the most efficient converters of research into commercial outcomes in the world. Australia brings world-class research institutions and a strong pipeline of ideas looking for partners and markets.

NCCA Royal Orange member Rijk Zwaan shows how this works in practice. The family-owned Dutch vegetable breeder carries out breeding and seed production in Australia, testing how its varieties perform under local growing conditions. It has also partnered with the Future Food Systems Cooperative Research Centre, which connects Australian researchers with industry. This is the kind of research-to-market collaboration the index rewards in both countries.

The commercial relationship is already substantial. According to DFAT, two-way trade was $10.3 billion in 2023, and the Netherlands was Australia’s largest EU export market at $6.1 billion. Dutch investment in Australia stood at $92 billion, making the Netherlands the ninth largest source of foreign investment, while Australian investment in the Netherlands reached $57 billion.

A new GII measure adds another signal. WIPO now tracks announced greenfield R&D and high-tech investment, and Australia is one of 16 global investment hubs sitting above the world average for both inbound and outbound projects.

Innovation already shapes much of the bilateral agenda. In January 2023 the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding on clean energy supply chains, focused on green hydrogen via the Port of Rotterdam. Austrade’s priority sectors in the Netherlands include clean energy, circular economy, critical technology and agrifood.

For Dutch companies operating in Australia, the rankings confirm that their experience in moving ideas from the lab to the market is a genuine competitive advantage here. For Victorian businesses looking towards Europe, the Netherlands offers a proven route from research to commercial scale, with the wider EU market on its doorstep.

The full results are available on the WIPO website.