Information Affairs Authority, Manama, 10 July 2012: The Kingdom of Bahrain ranked 3rd regionally and 41st globally on its innovation performance, moving 5 steps ahead since last year's (2011) performance, according to the Global Innovation Index 2012 (GII) Stronger Innovation Linkages for Global Growth, published by INSEAD eLab, a research centre at the leading international business school, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialized agency of the United Nations.

As for the Global Innovation Efficiency Index, the Kingdom of Bahrain ranked 17th (after Qatar) in the category Countries with High Income and Economies.

The list of overall GII top 10 performers has changed little from last year. Switzerland, Sweden, and Singapore are followed in the top ten by Finland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Hong Kong (China), Ireland, and the United States of America.

The report ranks 141 countries/economies on the basis of their innovation capabilities and results. The GII 2012 is calculated as the average of two sub-indices and the Innovation Efficiency Index is the ratio of the two sub-indices.

The Innovation Input Sub-Index gauges elements of the national economy which embodies innovative activities grouped in five pillars: (1) Institutions, (2) Human capital and research, (3) Infrastructure, (4) Market sophistication, and (5) Business sophistication. The Innovation Output Sub-Index captures actual evidence of innovation results, divided in two pillars: (6) Knowledge and technology outputs and (7) Creative outputs.