Uruguay in the Global Innovation Index 2025

By Pittaluga Abogados

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025, providing a comprehensive assessment of innovation performance across 139 economies worldwide. The index evaluates countries using a wide range of indicators, including research and development (R&D) investment, human capital, institutional quality, infrastructure, and creative outputs. In the 2025 edition, Uruguay ranked 68th globally, maintaining its position as one of the most innovative countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Within its income category, Uruguay was classified among the high-income economies, where it placed 47th out of 54. In the regional comparison, Uruguay achieved the fourth position in Latin America and the Caribbean, following Chile, Brazil, and Mexico. This reflects a relatively stable performance in the region, although it also highlights the structural challenges that Uruguay continues to face in enhancing its innovation capacity and efficiency.

According to data released by Uruguay’s Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM), the country has shown steady progress in several key indicators related to innovation. In 2023, the number of researchers reached 902.43 full-time equivalents per million inhabitants, representing a 2.51% increase compared to the previous year. This figure placed Uruguay 56th worldwide in researcher density. Moreover, the country’s gross domestic expenditure on R&D amounted to 0.63% of GDP in 2022, a slight increase from 0.62% the year before, ranking 57th globally.

The participation of the private sector in research and development remains limited. In 2022, R&D performed by businesses accounted for 0.29% of GDP, a small decline compared to 2021, placing Uruguay 49th in this indicator. Business funding for R&D represented only 4.2% of total gross R&D expenditure in 2021, unchanged from the previous year, with Uruguay occupying the 80th position globally. These figures show that while Uruguay maintains a relatively strong institutional and educational framework, it faces persistent challenges in mobilizing private investment toward innovation activities.

The 2025 GII results also highlighted the difference between Uruguay’s input and output scores. The country ranked 61st in innovation inputs and 76th in innovation outputs, revealing a gap between available resources and tangible results such as patents, high-technology exports, and creative goods.

This imbalance suggests that while Uruguay invests in education, governance, and infrastructure, it still struggles to convert these inputs into measurable innovation outcomes.

Within the regional and global context, Uruguay continues to be recognized for its political stability, favorable business environment, and solid institutional framework—factors that contribute positively to its innovation potential. However, the country’s economic specialization in primary sectors limits the development of more sophisticated and knowledge-intensive industries. This structural characteristic affects its performance in the market and business sophistication pillars of the index.

The discussion held by MIEM, DNPI, and WIPO representatives during the presentation of the GII 2025 in Montevideo emphasized the importance of designing a comprehensive national strategy on innovation and intellectual property. This approach would aim to strengthen collaboration among academia, government, and the private sector, improve data collection on R&D activities, and foster conditions for greater technological diversification. The event concluded with a call to use the Global Innovation Index as an evidence-based tool for policymaking and f