The Australian Government is now operating in line with Caretaker Conventions, pending the outcome of the 2025 federal election.

Business innovation data

Innovation supports economic growth and a high standard of living by advancing areas such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure. Australia ranks 7th out of 25 OECD countries in its relative number of innovation-active businesses (OECD 2023). In the Global Innovation Index, Australia ranks 24th out of 132 (WIPO 2023).

Innovation activity by industry

This chart shows the proportion of businesses carrying out innovation activities by industry. All industries, except mining, increased innovation activity between 2010-11 and 2020-21 (ABS 2021-22). 

Figure 1: Innovation-active businesses, share of all businesses, by industry, per cent, latest 2020–21

Novelty of introduced innovation

This chart shows the proportion of businesses that introduced an innovation to their operations in the two years ending 30 June 2021. Most introduced innovations were new to the business only. A small proportion of innovations were new to the industry of operation, Australia or to the world in general (ABS 2021-22).  

Figure 2: Novelty of introduced innovations, share of innovating businesses, per cent, latest 2020–21

Business performance by innovation status

This chart shows the effect of innovation activity on business performance. In the two years ending 30 June 2020-21, more innovation-active businesses reported increases across selected performance indicators compared to non-innovation-active businesses. For example, 36% of businesses that actively innovated reported higher product sales compared to 22% of businesses that did not undertake any innovation activity (ABS 2021-22).  

Figure 3: Business performance, by innovation status, per cent, latest 2020–21

Employment, productivity and sales outcomes, by innovation status and collaboration

This chart compares employment, productivity and sales outcomes based on innovation and collaboration status. In the two years ending 30 June 2021, almost 41% of the businesses that collaborated on innovation activity with other entities had increased sales. Only 20% of businesses that did not undertake any innovation activity reported increased sales (ABS 2023).   

Figure 4: Employment, productivity and sales outcomes, by innovation status and collaboration, per cent, latest 2020–21

Global Innovation Index

This chart shows the Global Innovation Index (GII) ranking for the top 30 countries in 2023. The GII provides a comparison of 132 economies based on three overarching indices measuring innovation inputs and outputs. Australia ranked 24 out of 132 economies, positioned in the top quartile for overall GII score and is comparable to peers such as Belgium and Ireland (WIPO, 2023). 

Figure 5: Global Innovation Index, top 30 of 132 countries, index points, latest 2023

References