Thailand ranks 44th among 139 economies in the Global Innovation Index 2026, published on 29 September by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
That is one place better than 2025 and three places short of 2024, when Thailand ranked 41st. The gain is small. How Thailand earned it is the more useful story for Chiang Mai business owners: output from research and technical knowledge improved, while the inputs that feed innovation did not move and the institutions pillar fell.
In brief
- Thailand ranks 44th of 139 with a score of 37.6, up from 45th in 2025. Vietnam is one place ahead on a score only 0.1 points higher.
- Knowledge and technology outputs rose six places to 38th, led by knowledge creation, which jumped from 48th to 35th.
- Institutions fell four places to 80th, Thailand’s weakest pillar. Venture capital deal count relative to GDP ranks 104th.
- Chiang Mai’s startup ecosystem grew 91.6 percent in the 2026 StartupBlink index, a growth rate and not a city rank.
- Since 1 October the National Innovation Agency (NIA) verifies Thai Innovation List products, it can now take equity in firms, and a draft Startup Business Promotion Act is moving through government.
The headline numbers
Thailand’s overall score is 37.6, against 36.7 in 2025, according to the Thansettakij report on the index. It is third among the 35 upper-middle-income economies, behind China and Malaysia, and WIPO marks it as a new entrant to that group’s top three. In the wider region of Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceania it ranks 10th of 17, and within ASEAN it is fourth.
The score averages two halves. The input sub-index covers institutions, human capital, infrastructure and the sophistication of markets and businesses, and it stayed at 46th. The output sub-index measures what the economy produces from those inputs, and it rose two places to 41st. Switzerland stayed first, ahead of Sweden, the United States, South Korea and Singapore in fifth, as laid out in the executive version of the report. WIPO also notes that Thailand produces more innovation output than its inputs would predict and performs above expectations for its level of development.
What pushed Thailand up
Knowledge and technology outputs did the work. That pillar climbed six places, from 44th to 38th. Within it, knowledge creation jumped from 48th to 35th and knowledge impact improved from 56th to 47th. Utility models, a lighter form of patent protection, rank fifth in the world relative to GDP, and high-tech exports rank eighth, at USD 62.08 billion in 2024. Market sophistication held steady at 27th and business sophistication edged up from 42nd to 41st.
Business-funded research remains a strength: companies finance 67 percent of national R&D spending, fifth in the world. NIA reads the pillar gain as Thailand getting more economic value out of its research and technical expertise.
| Pillar | 2025 | 2026 | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knowledge and technology outputs | 44th | 38th | Up 6 |
| Business sophistication | 42nd | 41st | Up 1 |
| Market sophistication | 27th | 27th | Unchanged |
| Creative outputs | 39th | 44th | Down 5 |
| Institutions | 76th | 80th | Down 4 |
Where Thailand still lags
Two results moved the wrong way. Creative outputs fell from 39th to 44th, and the institutions pillar dropped four places, from 76th to 80th. At 80th it is Thailand’s lowest-ranked pillar, and human capital and research (55th) and infrastructure (58th) also sit below its overall rank.
Inside institutions, the business environment sub-pillar ranks 89th, with policy stability for doing business at 90th and rule of law at 75th, while entrepreneurship policies and culture rank 52nd. Our reading is that the data point to friction in how rules and administration work more than to a shortage of entrepreneurial attitude. Owners who need help with that friction can start with the legal services providers in our human-verified Chiang Mai business directory, the Golden Pages.
Money is the other gap. Thailand ranks 104th for venture capital deals relative to GDP, and WIPO’s tracker shows deal numbers fell 6.7 percent between 2024 and 2025. Education spending, at 2.5 percent of GDP, ranks 119th.
How Thailand compares in ASEAN
| Economy | World rank | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore | 5th | 61.0 |
| Malaysia | 34th | 41.8 |
| Vietnam | 43rd | 37.7 |
| Thailand | 44th | 37.6 |
| Philippines | 52nd | 33.8 |
| Indonesia | 55th | 32.7 |
Singapore is in a class of its own. Vietnam was 44th last year and Thailand 45th, so both moved up one place and the order between them is unchanged. Thailand was 41st in 2024, the best result in WIPO’s seven-year table for the country, so this year’s gain wins back only one place of a four-place slide. WIPO cautions that year-on-year comparisons are affected by changes to its model and data coverage.
WIPO’s wider finding is that middle-income economies keep climbing but are meeting an innovation glass ceiling that so far only China has broken. Catch-up has been easiest in production, exports and startup finance, and hardest in the knowledge base and R&D, where research capacity builds slowly. That makes Thailand’s jump in knowledge creation the most notable part of its result.
The Chiang Mai angle
The index scores nations, not cities, and Thailand has no innovation clusters in WIPO’s world top 100. Other measures give a better local picture.
In the StartupBlink Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2026, announced by NIA on 20 May and covered by Thairath and The Story Thailand, Thailand placed 49th globally, its first top 50 finish in six years, and fourth in Southeast Asia behind Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. Chiang Mai’s startup ecosystem recorded growth of 91.6 percent and Phuket’s 85.9 percent. NIA said secondary cities like these can attract entrepreneurs, investors and digital nomads, a trend visible in Chiang Mai’s nomad-friendly districts. That figure is a growth rate, not a ranking for the city, and NIA’s announcement does not state the base it was measured from, so read it as momentum, not scale.
WIPO’s own data add two small Chiang Mai notes. Chiang Mai University ranks 526th in the QS world ranking, the third-highest Thai university in WIPO’s table after Chulalongkorn (221st) and Mahidol (358th). And Recharge Health, a Chiang Mai medical devices and digital health company founded in 2018, appears on WIPO’s list of Thailand’s top three deep science startups by venture funding, with USD 0.7 million raised. That is a modest sum, which fits the funding gap described above.
Local institutions are also active. The Science and Technology Park at Chiang Mai University (STeP) co-organised the IASP Asia Pacific Division event in Chiang Mai from 2 to 4 June, with the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation. That fits the city’s growing MICE events calendar, which we cover in why Chiang Mai is rising as a MICE destination in Asia. In July, the northern Regional Research to Market competition, held at Mae Fah Luang University on 8 and 9 July, drew 21 pitches from seven northern institutions including Chiang Mai University.
NIA also runs its first regional office from STeP, serving the 11 northern provinces, according to its Global Startup Hub page. A 2021 OECD study used advanced agriculture, biotechnology and food for the future in the Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai regions as its test case for building a regional innovation cluster. The index does not measure any of this directly, so treat it as context, not proof.
Policy tools that could reach local firms
A royal decree published on 30 June gave NIA new legal power to hold shares, enter partnerships and co-invest, including through venture capital trusts, under rules to be set by the Cabinet. NIA frames the change as a shift from grant-giver to co-investor under the name NIA Venture, with the stated aim of closing the funding gap between a seed round and Series A. The model has three channels:
- Corporate co-funding alongside NIA-certified investors, for seed to Series A startups and SMEs with revenue of 0.5 million to 20 million baht.
- Trust-fund co-investment in Series A to pre-IPO companies with revenue of 20 million to 100 million baht.
- Co-investment through university or private sector holding companies, direct strategic investment and fund-of-funds structures.
The target technology groups are agriculture and food; medical, health and wellbeing; energy, environment and electric vehicles; AI and semiconductors; and creativity and culture. Separately, NIA opened a new call on 2 July for its Market Expansion funding, offering up to 2 million baht per project, for up to one year, to startups with commercially ready products. The mechanism, which has existed since at least the fiscal 2024 scheme, covers the full cost of expansion into government agencies and half the cost of expansion into private organisations. Owners weighing capital options can compare these routes with local financial and banking providers.
On 8 September the Cabinet approved in principle a Startup Business Promotion Act. The framework would be voluntary, with five years of benefits for eligible companies and up to 10 years for deep-tech firms in designated fields. To qualify, a company must be a limited company no more than 10 years old, with average annual revenue over the preceding three years of 300 million baht or less, that has never paid dividends and is not controlled by another company. Eligible firms would self-certify to NIA, which would also act as a one-stop service on work permits, intellectual property, tax and procurement. The draft still has to be reviewed by the Office of the Council of State, so it is not yet law, and an earlier version had extra staffing requirements, so check the final text. A local business consultant can help test a company against these criteria.
NIA also takes on a larger role in the Thai Innovation List, which lets government agencies buy certified Thai innovations directly and acts as a state-backed first customer. Thairath reports that registered products qualify for procurement of at least 30 percent of an agency’s demand, with benefits lasting up to eight years, and authority to verify products moved from NSTDA to NIA on 1 October. The scheme has critics. A House committee heard in June that more than 910 products are registered, 492 of them medical, compared with 664 listed in June 2023, but only about 40 percent have ever been bought, as TCIJ reported. Spending has concentrated on street lighting, and lawmakers called for a full review.
What business owners can take from this
This is our reading of the results, not a forecast. Public money for innovation is moving from grants toward equity, and the target groups include agriculture and food, health and wellbeing, and creativity and culture, where many Chiang Mai companies already work. Owners in those fields, and in tourism, should look at the NIA Venture channels and the Market Expansion call now. Three checks are worth running this month:
- Test the company against the Startup Business Promotion Act criteria: age, revenue, dividends and control.
- Match annual revenue to an NIA Venture channel: 0.5 to 20 million baht, or 20 to 100 million baht.
- Contact STeP at Chiang Mai University or Regional Science Park North about research partnerships.
Universities are the other practical door. Thailand’s gain came from knowledge creation and knowledge impact, and in Chiang Mai the Science and Technology Park at CMU and Regional Science Park North are the established links between research and business. The fall in creative outputs is a gap, but it also sits inside a funded target group, which may interest local design, media and content firms.
To meet the people doing this work, join the Chiang Mai Business Network, or find vetted local partners in the GoldenPages business directory. More local coverage is on our latest articles page.
A note of caution
One place is a small move. WIPO’s own statistical confidence interval puts Thailand’s 2026 rank between 41st and 45th, so a single-place change sits well inside the margin. WIPO’s own conclusion is that countries should strengthen how institutions, skills, finance and firms reinforce one another, not chase a higher rank. An institutions rank of 80th, a startup bill still in draft and an innovation procurement list under review all show that the ranking does not guarantee results for any one company.
Frequently asked questions
What is Thailand’s rank in the Global Innovation Index 2026?
Thailand ranks 44th of 139 economies with a score of 37.6, up from 45th in 2025. It is fourth in ASEAN, behind Singapore (5th), Malaysia (34th) and Vietnam (43rd).
What drove Thailand’s improvement?
The output sub-index rose two places to 41st, led by knowledge and technology outputs, which climbed from 44th to 38th. Knowledge creation jumped from 48th to 35th.
Does the index rank Chiang Mai?
No. The Global Innovation Index ranks nations. For city-level signals, the StartupBlink 2026 index recorded 91.6 percent startup ecosystem growth in Chiang Mai, which is a growth rate and not a rank.
How does Thailand compare with Vietnam and Malaysia?
Thailand is 44th with 37.6 points. Vietnam is 43rd with 37.7, Malaysia 34th with 41.8 and Singapore 5th with 61.0. Thailand is fourth in ASEAN.
Is the Startup Business Promotion Act law yet?
Not yet. The Cabinet approved it in principle on 8 September 2026, and the Office of the Council of State must still review the draft.
What is NIA Venture?
NIA Venture is the National Innovation Agency’s co-investment model. After a royal decree in late June 2026 allowed NIA to hold shares, it plans three channels: corporate co-funding for seed to Series A firms, trust-fund co-investment for Series A to pre-IPO firms, and holding company or fund investment.
