Lithuania Shows Steady Growth in European Innovation Scoreboard 2025
The European Commission has released the latest results of the European Innovation Scoreboard, with Lithuania maintaining its 18th position among EU member states, the same as last year. Despite this static ranking, the country’s long-term innovation progress remains impressive: since 2018, Lithuania’s innovation performance has increased by 17.4%, significantly surpassing the EU average growth of 12.6%. Only a few countries, such as Czechia and Italy, have demonstrated comparable progress.
“Innovation in Lithuania has already become a strategic direction, and our progress clearly shows this – we are growing faster than most European countries. Businesses are becoming increasingly active, and the state continues to invest more into the development of science and technology. However, to accelerate further, we must focus on creating high value-added solutions and encouraging innovation-driven investment,” said Minister of the Economy and Innovation, Lukas Savickas.
Lithuania has been recognised by the European Commission as one of the leaders in terms of business activity related to innovation. Public sector investment in research and experimental development (R&D) has grown by 15.3% over the past year, moving Lithuania up to 15th place in the EU for this metric. At the same time, Lithuanian businesses are also intensifying their investments in non-R&D innovation activities — these expenditures exceed the EU average by 56.9%, while the number of trademark applications is 46.3% above the EU average.
“The European Commission’s data confirms what we see daily in our work with Lithuanian innovators — our ecosystem is strengthening, and businesses are increasingly confident in developing and adopting advanced solutions. It is encouraging to see Lithuania rapidly catching up with Europe’s leaders, but our goal is not only to grow — it is to grow faster and more purposefully than others. Therefore, it is especially important now to strengthen R&D partnerships, invest in knowledge-based services, and pursue even more ambitious results together with business and academia,” commented Patricija Reut, Acting Head of the Innovation Agency.
The use of cloud computing in Lithuania has almost tripled since 2018. Over the same period, venture capital investment has increased more than two and a half times. Lithuania also exceeds the EU average in the number of companies implementing process innovations and in the share of employees working in innovative enterprises.
Furthermore, the country remains among the EU leaders in the share of its population with higher education — a rate nearly 1.8 times higher than the EU average.
However, the Scoreboard also highlights several areas that require greater attention. The export of knowledge-intensive services and business investment in R&D remain among the key challenges. Additionally, the number of companies developing product innovations and those cooperating with other firms has decreased by 39.4% and 34.1% respectively compared to the previous year.
The 2025 edition of the Innovation Scoreboard includes new indicators for the first time — high-speed internet coverage and labour productivity — emphasising the increasing importance of digital infrastructure and innovation-based growth. Labour productivity in Lithuania continues to be a challenge, currently standing at just 31.9% of the EU average.
The Ministry of the Economy and Innovation remains committed to strengthening the national innovation ecosystem, encouraging collaboration between business and academia, and fostering a supportive environment for advanced investment and high