Lithuania still belongs to the group of moderate innovators and has retained its 18th place, the Innovation Agency reported on Friday. Latvia ranks 25th, while Estonia is in 11th place, falling into the group of strong innovators. The top positions on the European Innovation scoreboard are held by Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. Since 2019, Lithuania's innovation index has increased by 19.7 points - the second highest growth rate in the EU. In this regard, Lithuania is slightly outpaced by Estonia - by just 0.1 percentage points. Both countries have demonstrated the fastest innovation progress in the EU in recent years. Economist of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists (LCP) Živilė Simonaitė-Vasiliauskienė emphasizes that Lithuania has surpassed some countries in the region, but still needs to catch up to the leaders. "Lithuania occupies an intermediate position in the region - it already surpasses some neighboring countries, but it still has a significant distance to cover to reach the most advanced economies of Northern Europe. The example of Finland, which remains among the European innovation leaders, shows that high productivity, competitive industry, and high added value are created through consistent investments in science, technology, and innovation. Estonia is also a good example - today it is already in the group of strong innovators and exceeds the average innovation index of the EU," noted Simonaitė-Vasiliauskienė. The European Commission evaluates the innovation systems of states annually based on more than 30 indicators - from human capital and research systems to business investments, digitalization, intellectual property, and the impact of innovations on the economy.