Geo-Innovation
Trends 2025
Recognizing Europe and the Middle East’s most influential innovators
Ideas
that connect worlds
In the Top 100 Global Innovators 2025, we highlight the companies and institutions that sit at the very top of the global innovation ecosystem.
Now, we dive into the data that goes beyond the Top 100, to analyze the extensive innovation environment within Europe and the Middle East.
Leveraging data within the Top 1000, we identify macro trends and standout innovators emanating from this region. We then benchmark these trends against three other global regions, offering a comprehensive view of the geo-innovation landscape.
Forces
creating change
Key trends in Europe and the Middle East
Over the past five years, Europe and the Middle East have seen a 10% decrease in annual levels of new invention publication. Despite the reduced volume of inventions, the region boasts some of the highest-ranking organizations within the Top 1000 Global Innovators. As shown below, the region has the highest average rank of organizations compared to the other three regions, and the second highest representation among the Top 1000 Global Innovators.
These indicators show a shift from focusing on the quantity of inventions to improving the quality of inventions, highlighting the region’s dedication to research excellence.
Average Top 1,000 Global Innovators rank ∆
How the rank of entities, within the wider Top 1000 Global
Innovators, in each region has changed over the last 4 editions
Share of Top 1,000 Global Innovators, 2025
How the headquarters location of entities, within the wider Top 1,000 Global Innovators of 2025, is distributed by region
The link between innovation and economic activity
Major European economies such as Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the Netherlands are pivotal in driving regional innovation. These countries are the bedrock of technological advancement, contributing significantly to the global innovation landscape. Analysis of the contribution to major innovation capital versus the size of each national economy shows these nations sit well within the more knowledge-intensive economies of the world.
Yet the region is also diverse, with nations such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Norway having similar GDP levels but lower innovation capital contributions, indicating national wealth driven by industrial or extractive activities.
Focus
and technical strength
Across the Clarivate 5-Forces (Automation, Connectivity, Mobility, Sustainability and Wellbeing), European and Middle Eastern innovations diverge from the global baseline of activity. Wellbeing and Mobility are clear areas of focus, while automation and connectivity fall short when compared to innovations within other regions.
A SWOT3 Analysis of the region shows the following:
- The focus on Wellbeing produces a unique technological lead, where the region has high strength.
- The Connectivity and Sustainability fields fall into the threat quadrant, where all regions exhibit high strength contribution, producing a head-to-head competitive ecosystem.
- Mobility-related technology shows potential underperformance despite high numerical activity, with high strength in the comparison regions, indicating the high quality of patented innovation in those regions.
- Automation technologies, including traditional software alongside new emerging growth in AI and advanced data science, fall within the opportunity quadrant, where leadership is yet to be determined and innovation trends are still in significant flux.
- Defined in this report as the number of inventions within the top 0.5% globally as measured by the Derwent Strength Index.
- Defined as last reported nominal gross domestic product in US dollars.
- Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat analysis, where the average Derwent Strength Index of inventions in the region is plotted against the average Derwent Strength Index of all other regions.
- Comparison regions include 1) the United States, 2) Japan and 3) the major East Asian economies of Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea treated as one.
Areas of technical focus across the Clarivate 5-Forces
How does European and Middle Eastern Innovation since 2019 differ in focus versus the rest of the world? Based on % of invention activity.
Clarivate 5-Forces SWOT Analysis, Europe and the Middle East
Where invention strength concentrates versus all other regions, based on average invention strength, for inventions published 2019-2023
Top 50 Innovators
Europe and the Middle East
Recognizing Europe and the Middle East’s most influential innovators
| Innovator | Region/Country | Industry |
| ABB | Switzerland | Industrial systems |
| Air Liquide | France | Chemicals and materials |
| Airbus | France | Aerospace and defense |
| Alstom | France | Energy and electrical |
| ams OSRAM | Austria | Semiconductors |
| Aptiv | Ireland | Automotive |
| Arkema | France | Chemicals and materials |
| ASML | Netherlands | Semiconductors |
| Atlas Copco | Sweden | Industrial systems |
| BASF | Germany | Chemicals and materials |
| Bosch | Germany | Industrial conglomerate |
| CEA | France | Government and academic research |
| CNRS | France | Government and academic research |
| Continental | Germany | Automotive |
| Eberspächer | Germany | Telecommunications |
| Ericsson | Sweden | Telecommunications |
| Evonik | Germany | Chemicals and materials |
| FORVIA | France | Automotive |
| Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft | Germany | Government and academic research |
| Henkel | Germany | Consumer goods and food |
| Infineon Technologies | Germany | Semiconductors |
| Knorr-Bremse | Germany | Automotive |
| Krones | Germany | Industrial systems |
| Merck | Germany | Chemicals and materials |
| Michelin | France | Automotive |
| Nokia | Finland | Telecommunications |
| NXP Semiconductors | Netherlands | Semiconductors |
| OMV | Austria | Energy and electrical |
| Philips | Netherlands | Medical and biotechnology |
| Roche | Switzerland | Pharmaceuticals |
| Rolls Royce | United Kingdom | Aerospace and defense |
| Safran | France | Aerospace and defense |
| Sagemcom | France | Telecommunications |
| Saint-Gobain | France | Chemicals and materials |
| Saudi Aramco | Saudi Arabia | Energy and electrical |
| Schneider Electric | France | Energy and electrical |
| Siemens | Germany | Industrial conglomerate |
| Siemens Energy | Germany | Energy and electrical |
| Signify | Netherlands | Energy and electrical |
| STMicroelectronics | Switzerland | Semiconductors |
| Swatch Group | Switzerland | Consumer goods and food |
| Tetra Laval | Switzerland | Industrial systems |
| Thales | France | Aerospace and defense |
| ThyssenKrupp | Germany | Industrial conglomerate |
| Unilever | United Kingdom | Consumer goods and food |
| Valeo | France | Automotive |
| Vestas | Denmark | Energy and electrical |
| Vitesco Technologies | Germany | Automotive |
| Volkswagen | Germany | Automotive |
| ZEISS | Germany | Industrial systems |
Innovation power clusters
The organizations in the Top 50 Innovators of Europe and the Middle East have the second highest combined revenue among the four Top 50 regions (noting some missing figures for private entities), and the second highest total R&D investment level behind the U.S. When examined at an organizational level, the Top 50 Innovators of Europe and the Middle East have the highest average intensity of R&D investment on a per company, per revenue basis, with each organization investing approximately 13% of revenues in new technology development, compared to less than 10% in the U.S. or Japan.
Out of the Top 50 regional innovators, 23 organizations are clustered in just three locations: Paris (France), Munich (Germany) and Eindhoven (the Netherlands).
The Paris hub is the largest, with 12 organizations headquartered near the French capital: Air Liquide, Alstom, Arkema, CEA, CNRS, FORVIA, Safran, Sagemcom, Saint-Gobain, Schneider Electric, Thales and Valeo. Together, these organizations produced more than $260 billion in revenues in 2023-24, equating to approximately 8% of the total French economy.
The Eindhoven hub is noteworthy as the offshoots of Philips still gather near the city (we have included Philips itself in the Eindhoven hub, noting that although its executive headquarters have moved to Amsterdam, the company’s R&D heart remains in Eindhoven). These include ASML, NXP Semiconductors and Signify. This hub represents a significant heritage and innovation culture contributing to the Dutch and European economies.
Locations of the Top 50
Major innovation hubs in Europe and the Middle East
Revenues
The total annual revenues of the Top 50 Innovators,
by region
Europe and the Middle East $2.1 trillion
Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea $1.6 trillion
Japan $1.4 trillion
United States $2.9 trillion
Research & Development Investment
The total annual R&D investment of the Top 50 Innovators, by region
Europe and the Middle East $130 billion
Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea $109 billion
Japan $65 billion
United States $210 billion
Research & Development Intensity
The average percentage of revenues invested in R&D per Top 50 Innovator, by region
Europe and the Middle East 13%
Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea 10%
Japan 6%
United States 9%
A universe
of connected thinking
The crucial importance of collaboration
Examining the activity of the regional Top 50 innovators over the past decade shows a high level of inventor residence in the United States for European and Middle Eastern organizations, with 17% of inventions having inventors based there.
Shifting to external collaboration, 1.5% of inventions from the regional Top 50 include overlapping development with academia or government institutions, with Europe and the Middle East again the second highest across the comparison regions.
When this data is narrowed to the top 0.5% of the world’s strongest inventions, these indicators show the crucial importance of collaboration. In those instances, two trends appear: increased collaboration across regions within organizations and increased external partnerships with institutions focused on foundational research. Invention strength is improved when the organizations and individuals contributing to innovation are more collaborative.
Cross-regional inventor collaboration of the Top 50 Innovators, Europe and the Middle East
The proportion of invention activity, including inventors based in other regions, over the last 10 years, including the variance between all inventions, and the Top 0.5% strongest inventions
Collaboration with academia of the Top 50 Innovators, Europe and the Middle East
The proportion of invention activity including a co-assignment with an academic or government institution over the last 10 years, including the variance between all inventions and the Top 0.5% strongest inventions, excluding academic institutions within each Top 50 list
Breakthroughs
that go beyond
Protection of innovation
As innovation meets commercial imperatives, protecting and patenting developed technologies is vital. Within the patenting process, the patenting behavior of the Top 50 Innovators in Europe and the Middle East differs from that of the Top 50 in other regions.
- The top innovators within this region show a smaller ratio of patent grants to applications at 35.5% compared to 37.7-38.5% in other regions.
- Patent protection is more heavily concentrated in the U.S., with Mainland China and Europe being close seconds.
- On average, inventions are protected in three different patent jurisdictions, the highest average of all the Top 50 regions.
Top 3 Patent Filing Jurisdictions
The most common locations of patent applications of the Top 50 Innovators of Europe and the Middle East
Granted Patent Performance
The ratio of grants to applications of the Top 50 Innovators, by region, 2016-2020 inclusive, to remove current pending cases; excludes Utility Models
Europe and the Middle East
United States 48%, Mainland China 42%,
European Patent Office 41%
Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea
Mainland China 69%, United States 41%, South Korea 29%
Japan
Japan 86%, US 41%, Mainland China 28%
United States
United States 88%, Mainland China 33%, European Patent Office 8%
Innovations
at the core of excellence
Protection of innovation
The 50 most innovative companies in Europe and the Middle East represent a significant proportion of the world’s innovative power. With intensive R&D investment and a strong focus on internationalized IP protection, these 50 organizations contributed almost 8% of the world’s highest-strength patented inventions over the past 35 years.
Their ability to return value from their development of new technologies underpins their national economies and represents a significant part of the knowledge intensity demonstrated by Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and many other countries in the region.
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Core of excellence
Embracing hyperconnectivity and global dynamics
The Top 100 Global Innovators 2025 report leverages the proprietary Derwent World Patents Index (DWPI) to provide unparalleled insights into global innovation trends.
Discover how you can take advantage of DWPI’s comprehensive and meticulously curated patent data to make more informed business decisions and drive innovation.
