Austria falls in the innovation ranking: How the upswing can succeed!

Austria falls in the innovation ranking: How the upswing can succeed!

Austria has experienced a negative development in the 2025 European Innovation Ranking and falls to eighth place after being in sixth place last year. According to [leadersnet](https://www.leadersnet.at/news/91209,heimische-wirtschaft-soll-innovativer- Werden.html), this change is due to a revised ranking methodology, which makes comparative analysis with previous years more difficult. In the “Innovation Leaders” group, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland continue to take first places.

Economics Minister Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer and Innovation Minister Peter Hanke have already initiated measures to bring Austria back to the top of Europe's innovation countries. Hattmannsdorfer emphasizes the urgency of investing in innovations to secure jobs and prosperity. Within this framework, the ministry's research budget (BMWET) remains secured in order to create stable framework conditions for innovations.

Urgent measures for innovation

A central point of the new strategy is the targeted promotion of key technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum technology, energy technologies and space technologies. Austria already has a high level of innovation, particularly in the registration of intellectual property rights, where it holds first place. Hattmannsdorfer also announced a fund of funds to close financing gaps for start-ups and spin-offs. Hanke underlines the relevance of intellectual property as an important location factor.

In recent years, Austria has consistently established itself as a “strong innovator” in the EU, as IV reports. Despite the stability in this category, there has been no significant improvement in competitiveness. The need to strengthen research and technology policy is emphasized by Christoph Neumayer, Secretary General of the Federation of Industrialists. He emphasizes that the focus must be on excellent research as well as knowledge and technology transfer.

A review of innovation policy

The European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) regularly carries out evaluations that measure the innovation performance of EU member states. In 2025, Austria will be in eighth place among the EU-27, while in 2017 it was in seventh place. The changes in the indicator system and the reclassification of educational qualifications have led to an increased density of innovation, as WKO states.

In order to remain internationally competitive, the industry calls for the development of vibrant innovation ecosystems. The aim is also to increase the number of start-ups and to improve the supply of risk and growth capital. The Future Austria Fund, which expires in 2025, is to be increased to at least 200 million euros per year to support these goals.

Overall, current developments show that Austria's innovative strength is high, but continuous efforts are necessary in order not to fall behind in international competition.