The Philippines fell to 52nd place out of 139 economies in the 2026 Global Innovation Index (GII), down two spots from last year, as weaker innovation inputs outweighed gains in connectivity and other areas of technology adoption.
Innovation inputs dropped to 69th from 59th in 2025, while the country held its 49th-place ranking in innovation outputs. The 20-place gap means the Philippines continues to produce comparatively stronger innovation results than the resources and conditions supporting them would suggest.
The result also fell short of the government’s 49th-place target for 2026 under the Philippine Development Plan. The country had exceeded its 2025 target after reaching 50th place last year.
The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said the GII’s Global Innovation Tracker showed short-term improvements across nine Philippine indicators. These included scientific publications, research and development (R&D) investment, connectivity, robots, electric vehicles, labor productivity, and life expectancy.
Electric vehicle adoption recorded one of the biggest changes, with the Philippine EV stock rising 629.2% from 2024 to 2025. WIPO’s broader tracker also showed continuing global growth in fixed broadband and 5G coverage.
The Philippines retained several other strengths. Knowledge and Technology Outputs improved one place to 37th, while Creative Outputs climbed six places to 55th. The country ranked fourth globally in high-tech exports, sixth in high-tech imports, 18th in ICT services exports, and 17th in university-industry R&D collaboration.
WIPO still considers the Philippines an innovation overperformer relative to its level of economic development. It ranked third among 36 lower middle-income economies and fifth within ASEAN, behind Singapore, Malaysia, Viet Nam, and Thailand.
DOST linked the weaker input ranking to areas including R&D expenditure, the supply of science and engineering graduates, and the number of researchers. Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. said that “being innovative despite constraints is not the same as having the scale of R&D capability needed to compete globally.”