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The corrected 2026 WIPO Global Innovation Index cluster ranking is led by Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou. Bengaluru ranks 25th globally and Delhi 27th; Delhi is 96th on WIPO’s separate innovation-intensity measure. These are rankings of cluster scale and per-capita intensity—not verdicts on which cities are best to live in or launch a startup.
Top 10 innovation clusters in the 2026 Global Innovation Index
WIPO’s corrected 2026 list ranks clusters by the scale of their innovation activity, combining patenting, scientific publications and venture-capital activity. The table below uses the corrected figures published by WIPO, not the superseded first release.
| Global rank by scale | Innovation cluster | Economy |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou | China / Hong Kong, China |
| 2 | Tokyo–Yokohama | Japan |
| 3 | San Jose–San Francisco, CA | United States |
| 4 | Beijing | China |
| 5 | Seoul | Republic of Korea |
| 6 | Shanghai–Suzhou | China |
| 7 | New York City, NY | United States |
| 8 | London | United Kingdom |
| 9 | Boston–Cambridge, MA | United States |
| 10 | Osaka–Kobe–Kyoto | Japan |
Source: WIPO’s corrected 2026 release. The table is the scale ranking, not the intensity ranking.
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India has two clusters in the global top 30 and four in the top 100, according to WIPO’s 2026 release.
- Bengaluru: 25th globally. WIPO identifies it as India’s highest-ranked cluster.
- Delhi: 27th globally by scale and 96th by intensity. Its different positions illustrate that total cluster scale and activity relative to population measure different things.
These positions describe innovation-cluster activity under WIPO’s measures. They are not equivalent to a ranking of national innovation performance, general startup ecosystems or overall city quality.
What WIPO counts as an innovation cluster
WIPO identifies clusters using a bottom-up approach, so a cluster can span administrative or political boundaries. It combines the locations associated with three types of activity:
- Inventors named in published Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications.
- Authors’ affiliations in scientific articles.
- Companies receiving venture-capital funding.
WIPO’s indexed 2026 methodology excerpt describes fractional counting: activity is apportioned according to the share of inventors or authors associated with a cluster. It also describes merging nearby clusters when proximity and collaboration relationships support doing so. The excerpt reports PCT data covering approximately 1.3 million applications published from 2021 to 2025, with 4.4 million inventor addresses, and scientific-publication data covering 8.6 million articles from 2020 to 2024, with 30.4 million author addresses. These methodology details come from the 2026 GII methodology material.
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Scale and intensity are different rankings
The top 10 above is a ranking by global cluster scale. WIPO’s intensity measure adjusts combined innovation activity relative to population. A large cluster can therefore rank highly by scale without occupying the same position by intensity. Delhi’s 27th-place scale rank and 96th-place intensity rank are a concrete example.
Use the scale ranking to compare the overall volume of the activity WIPO counts. Use intensity when the question is how that activity compares with population. Neither measure on its own answers whether a city is the best location for a particular company, researcher or resident.
What changed in WIPO’s corrected 2026 release
WIPO’s September 8, 2026 release disclosed that the first version had a data-input error affecting venture-capital deal activity for eight clusters. The affected clusters were Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai–Suzhou, Nanjing, Washington DC–Baltimore, Philadelphia, Amsterdam–Rotterdam and Istanbul. WIPO recalculated the figures, and some top-100 ranks changed; it said all other figures remained verified. The corrected release is the appropriate source for the rankings in this article: WIPO correction and updated results.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How the clusters are distributed
The corrected 2026 results show strong representation across several economies and regions:
- China has 25 clusters in the global top 100; the United States has 20; India has four.
- South-eastern Asia, Eastern Asia and Oceania has 36 top-100 clusters; Europe has 30; Northern America has 23.
These counts describe the top 100 clusters, not each economy’s or region’s share of every kind of innovation activity. WIPO’s 2026 ranking is the 19th edition of the Global Innovation Index.
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What the ranking can—and cannot—tell you
The cluster list brings together patenting, scientific research and venture-capital geography. It offers a view of where these forms of innovation activity concentrate and how large the resulting clusters are under WIPO’s method. It does not separately rank the three inputs in the top-10 table, nor does it directly measure living standards, startup survival, jobs or per-capita activity.
WIPO Director General Daren Tang described leading clusters as “building blocks of national innovation ecosystems” and highlighted the connections among research, enterprise, talent and investment. In WIPO’s 2026 survey, 93 of 120 responding Member States (78%) said they use the GII, most often to improve innovation ecosystems and policies.
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