Stagnation in Bulgaria's Innovation Performance Raises Concerns

Bulgaria's position in the Global Innovation Index has remained unchanged at 38th place, but the country continues to see a decline in its performance across key indicators. The Bulgarian Industrial Chamber's (BIC) annual analysis highlights that, unlike many other nations that have shown improvements in their innovation metrics, Bulgaria's overall results have worsened for the second consecutive year. This trend is worrying, as it suggests that the country's efforts to foster innovation and technological advancement are not yielding the expected results.

The Global Innovation Index evaluates the innovation landscape of countries based on various factors, offering valuable insights for policymakers aiming to improve national innovation strategies. Bulgaria's stagnation in this ranking underscores significant challenges in its institutional, infrastructural, and business development sectors. For example, the country's performance in the "Institutions" pillar has fallen sharply, dropping 17 places to 83rd position, where it now lags behind nations such as Ghana and Kazakhstan. This decline is attributed to the inefficiency of the country's institutions, which hinders its overall innovation capacity.

One of the more promising areas, however, is the "Human and Research Capital" pillar, where Bulgaria has improved by four positions to 62nd place. Despite this progress, the country's performance has weakened in key areas like education, where increasing spending per teacher has not translated into better outcomes for students, as evidenced by declining PISA test scores. In the "Infrastructure" pillar, Bulgaria saw a slight improvement, climbing six positions to 22nd, but it remains far behind in digital transformation, ranking 51st in ICT access, signaling...