Catalonia has already surpassed the Basque Country and Madrid in innovation

BarcelonaEach year, the European Commission (EC) publishes the Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS), a report that assesses 23 indicators related to the level of innovation in 241 regions across Europe and classifies them into four innovation performance groups based on their regional innovation index: Innovation Leaders (38 regions), Strong Innovators (69 regions), and Innovative Regions. In the 2025 edition, Catalonia has once again achieved the second-best ranking as a Strong Innovator Region and has positioned itself for the first time as the most innovative region in Spain. Overall, the most innovative region in Europe according to the RIS is Stockholm (Sweden), followed by Hovedstaden (Denmark), London (United Kingdom), Zurich (Switzerland), and Upper Bavaria (Germany). In this edition, Catalonia scores 124.7 points on the innovation index, ahead of the Basque Country (121.7) – although the Basque Country had traditionally held first place in almost every edition – and also ahead of the Community of Madrid (119.5), which is in third place within Spain. These three regions, along with the Chartered Community of Navarre and the Valencian Community, are ranked above the European Union as a whole, which has a score of 112.6 on the innovation index.

Compared to the previous report, Catalonia's improvement is remarkable: it went from third place as an innovative region in Spain with 119.9 points to first place, with a 4.8-point improvement. Since 2018, the first year with comparable RIS data, Catalonia has risen 16.1 points in the ranking. Conversely, the innovation index of the Community of Madrid has fallen by 0.6 points compared to 2014, which has dropped it to third place. The Basque Country, for its part, has improved by 0.8 points compared to the last edition, but not enough to maintain its first-place ranking, and has been overtaken by Catalonia.

Catalan Leadership

"Catalonia was already in the second tier at the beginning of the RIS (2011-2012) as a strong innovation region, but then, due to various factors, it dropped to the third tier (moderate), and last year it regained its strong position," says Xavier López, CEO of Eurecat. "In the early years of this century, Catalonia was a pioneering region in innovation policies; the public administration was doing a lot to promote innovation that wasn't being done in other areas," López explains. "But then, with the crisis and the budget cuts, innovation was left more as something that private companies should do on their own and not from the government, so Catalonia lost ground as an innovation region," he explains. "Many factors certainly played a role, but that was important."

"So, Catalonia was still well-regarded in the indicators for university research and research in general, but those related to business and innovation declined. Now, for the last couple of years, we have been recognized as a strong region, and, moreover, we are the most innovative region in Spain, according to Eurecat.

In fact, in his opinion, Eurecat's work in recent years "has contributed to improving our positioning as an innovative region." One of the important indicators is cooperative innovation between companies—especially SMEs—and the government, that is, public-private collaboration in the sector. In this indicator, Catalonia has been gaining prominence, and Eurecat has contributed significantly to this," López points out. In fact, fostering innovation is largely the role of Eurecat, one of Catalonia's leading technology centers, which celebrated its tenth anniversary this year, having been founded in 2015. "We must value the process we have undergone to get where we are. A process that is not very common in Catalonia, where a growing critical mass comes together to create something so large," the CEO pointed out a few months ago. an interview in theCompanies.

To date, Eurecat has delivered nearly 16,000 technological innovation projects and services, providing solutions to more than 3,200 companies "of all sizes and sectors," the organization notes. Furthermore, it has also contributed to training in innovation-related skills, which is recognized in the RIS (Research and Innovation Strategy). lifelong learning"We have trained more than 40,000 people over the years," they state.

Areas for improvement

Within each region, the report scores the indicators and highlights some weaknesses. In the case of Catalonia, innovation in SMEs needs improvement, specifically product innovation, but above all, process innovation. The application of patents also needs improvement: "We are not a region that patents much; this needs to be improved," notes Xavier López. Likewise, the perennial complaint: there is still a long way to go in the field of public and private investment in research and development (R&D). "There is a lack of public and private resources. Companies must understand that this is a good investment: it is a risky investment, but it is riskier not to invest." "More investment is made in Madrid, or at least it counts more for them, because there is a capital city effect: having more company headquarters means that the innovation carried out by these companies is counted in Madrid, but this often doesn't necessarily mean that it is implemented there," López points out. Likewise, the biotechnology sector in Catalonia is experiencing very strong growth, and it is a sector that has always attracted significant investment and is inherently highly innovative. Finally, among the areas for improvement, it is also noted that Catalan SMEs are smaller than their European counterparts, which ultimately impacts the level of innovation.