Sri Lanka fell one place in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2019, after gaining two places in last year’s index.

The GII, a collaboration between Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organisation, placed Sri Lanka at the 89th position, out of 129 countries in its 2019 edition, down from the 88th place in 2018. 

The slow progress in the index rankings reflects Sri Lanka’s weak political and regulatory environment, poor spend and performance in human capital and research and difficultly in accessing the credit in funding innovations.

Sri Lanka ranks better in general infrastructure, ecological sustainability and business sophistication.

Meanwhile, India made significant gains in the 2019 GII rankings, climbing five places to the 52nd place.

Switzerland, Sweden and the United States of America occupied the top three places in the 2019 GII, in the chronological order, while Israel made it to the top 10 for the first time.