RSU recognised as a leading centre for innovation

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has published its latest Global Innovation Index 2025, and three universities have been identified as the leading centres of innovation in Latvia: Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU), Riga Technical University, and the University of Latvia, according to the Latvian Patent Office.

Latvia has improved in six indicators and moved up one position to 41st place. However, this still represents one of its lowest rankings since 2020. Overall, Latvia’s performance improved in six indicators but declined in four.

Latvia’s pace of development is described as moderate. However, it ranks relatively high globally in terms of income, placing 38th out of 54 countries, and 27th out of 39 countries in Europe.

Rīga Stradiņš University, Riga Technical University, and the University of Latvia have been identified as the leading innovation centres in Latvia. These three universities are ranked between 721st and 1000th place among all higher education institutions included in the report. At the same time, the report states that Latvia ranks 83rd in terms of the number of graduates in science and engineering fields of study.

Latvia ranks 41st in terms of the number of researchers per million inhabitants.

In the short term (2023–2024), Latvia has improved its performance in the following indicators: investment in research and development (by 3.7%), number of venture capital transactions (by 26.3%), fixed broadband (by 0.1%), 5G network availability and automation (by 66.7%), life expectancy (by 1.8%). In the short term, performance has declined in the following areas: scientific publications (by 5.4%), international patent applications (by 3.3%), labour productivity (by 0.2%), and the average air temperature has increased from 2.3 degrees to 3.1 degrees.

In the field of innovation, it has been concluded that Latvia generates less innovation than might be expected given its level of investment. The country ranks 39th in terms of investment in innovation, which is one position lower than last year. The highest ranking in this indicator was in 2025, when Latvia placed 35th. At the same time, innovation output has slightly improved: Latvia has moved up two positions in this indicator and now ranks 44th. The highest position in innovation output was recorded in 2020, when it ranked 35th.

Latvia’s strongest areas are infrastructure and creative expression.

For example, it ranks highly in national film production (5th place), exports of cultural and creative services (10th), the number of mobile applications (12th), employment of women with higher education (12th), and the number of students in higher education institutions (16th).

Latvia’s weakest areas are market sophistication (56th place), knowledge and technology transfer (51st place), human capital and research, and business sophistication (47th place). Particularly low-ranking indicators include policy stability for doing business (126th place), youth demographic resources (117th place), intellectual property payments (108th place), and cluster development (102nd place). Latvia’s overall position is further affected by the absence of unicorn companies and globally recognised brands.

The Global Innovation Index ranks the world’s 139 most innovative economies and identifies the 100 most innovation-rich centres (clusters) worldwide. The index highlights global trends based on investment types, technological progress, and socioeconomic impact. Countries are evaluated using 80 different indicators.

The five global leaders in innovation are Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, South Korea, and Singapore.

The other two Baltic countries, Lithuania and Estonia, rank 33rd and 16th, respectively.

The full report is available on the World Intellectual Property Organization’s website