The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), a specialised UN agency, has published its Global Innovation Index for 2026. Bulgaria ranks 37th in the world. Among European countries it comes 24th. That's unchanged from the 2025 report, and Bulgaria remains second in the Balkans, behind only Slovenia, which is 35th in the world.
Bulgaria's overall score rose to 40.3 points from 39.1 a year earlier, but that wasn't enough to move it up either the world or the European rankings. The study covers 139 countries worldwide and 39 in Europe.
Bulgaria's biggest gain came in infrastructure, where it climbed from 22nd to 10th place, putting it between Spain in ninth and Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, in 11th. Its score for knowledge and technology stayed the same, at 28th, while it dropped three places to 29th for creative output.
Bulgaria gained four places in business development, rising to 46th, but lost four in market development, falling to 39th. Its weakest showing was in institutional support, where it stayed at 81st, the same as in 2025. It fell nine places in human capital and research, from 64th to 73rd.
Among Bulgaria's neighbours, Greece ranks 41st in the world and 27th in Europe. Romania is 49th in the world and 30th in Europe. Serbia is 56th in the world and 31st in Europe, while North Macedonia is 61st and 33rd. Turkey ranks 45th worldwide.
In Europe, Hungary sits above Bulgaria in 23rd place, while Poland, in 25th, trails Bulgaria both in Europe and worldwide.
The top five are the same as in 2025: Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, South Korea and Singapore. Switzerland has held the top spot for the 16th year running. Fourteen of the top 25 countries are European, with the Netherlands and Austria both moving up, to seventh and 18th place respectively. China holds 10th place, the only middle-income economy among the leaders.