Clarivate reveals Top 100 Global Innovators 2024

New report introduces rankings for the first time; Samsung Electronics leads the list

Clarivate Plc, a leading global provider of transformative intelligence, today revealed its 2024 list of Top 100 Global Innovators™ – organizations leading the world in technology research and innovation. For the first time, Clarivate ranked the top 100 organizations to provide a more defined view, as competition for exceptional patentable ideas grows more intense.

New this year

This year, Clarivate is revealing the Top 100 Global Innovators 2024 ranking. The Top 100 Global Innovators are performing well above all other innovators globally. Each of these companies and research institutions has invested in innovation with conviction and consistency. Their work crosses disciplines and industries and shapes future direction.

Geographical spread

10 countries and regions are identified in this year’s list – two less than last year. Japan maintains its position as the biggest contributor to the Top 100 entities with 38 organizations named followed by the United States with 17, two less than in 2023. Asia continues to extend its leadership in the global innovation ecosystem with 62 organizations listed in 2024, four more than in 2023. Taiwan has 11 organizations named, South Korea has eight, three more than in 2023, and Mainland China has five, one more than last year. In Europe, Germany has seven organizations named, France has six, Switzerland has four, the Netherlands has three, and Sweden has one.

Industry sectors 

Industrial segments have increased representation in this year’s list, a trend seen in last year’s report. Industrial systems saw a significant increase (+4) alongside Semiconductors (+2) and Software, media, and fintech (+1). However, momentum has not been uniform, with decreases observed across several segments this year. Chemicals and materials declined (-3), as did Industrial conglomerates (-2).

Gordon Samson, President, Intellectual Property, Clarivate, said, “To feature as a Top 100 Global Innovator is no mean feat as maintaining an edge in the innovation ecosystem is harder than ever. Organizations must balance experimentation and risk with discipline and reward. We measure and rank innovative performance in a dynamic and thorough way, using live thresholds of differentiation. At Clarivate, we think forward by analyzing the quality of ideas, their potency, and their impact to identify the world’s top innovators, and this year we’re revealing the ranking of these innovators for the first time.”

Other key findings from the 2024 report include:

• Two companies were awarded Top 100 status for the first time: Taiwan electronics company Coretronic and Japan precision tool manufacturer Disco.
• Three companies re-enter the Top 100: Tencent, Daikin Industries, and Zeiss.
• 18 all-time recipient organizations retained Top 100 Global Innovator status: Samsung Electronics, Honda, Toyota, GE, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Sony, Hitachi, Toshiba, Ericsson, Qualcomm, Dow, Fujitsu, Boeing, Shin-Etsu Chemical, Honeywell, NEC, and Roche.
• A look at the bigger picture, based on the Top 1,000 entities, suggests continued growth in the Asia-Pacific region. Innovators in Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea are predicted to improve their average rankings.
• Based on predictions from the Top 1,000 organizations, the government and academic research segment will significantly contribute to applied innovation. 

To build the Top 100 Global Innovators 2024 report, the Clarivate Center for IP and Innovation Research™ measures the quality of ideas, their potency, and their effect. To achieve this, we combine modern analytical architecture with over 60 years of experience from the Derwent World Patents Index™ (DWPI™) and Derwent Patent Citation Index™.

Learn more about Top 100 Global Innovators 2024 here.

Methodology

The Top 100 Global Innovators uses a complete comparative analysis of global invention data to assess the strength of every patented idea, using measures tied directly to their innovative power.

To move from the individual idea strength to identify the organizations that create them more consistently and frequently, Clarivate sets two threshold criteria that potential candidates must meet and then adds a measure of their patented innovation output over the past five years.

For full information on the methodology used to identify the 2024 list, see here.