Malta has been classified as a Strong Innovator for the first time in the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) 2026.

The annual European Commission assessment places Malta above the EU average for innovation, while maintaining its 2025 overall ranking of 12th among EU Member States.

Malta has also recorded one of the strongest improvements in innovation performance since 2019, a statement by the Government of Malta read.

The European Innovation Scoreboard measures innovation performance across areas such as research, investment, digitalisation, business innovation, and economic impact.

Malta has historically been classified as a Moderate Innovator, with strengths in digitalisation, lifelong learning and knowledge-intensive employment, while continuing to face challenges in areas such as private R&D investment, venture capital and patent activity.

Minister for Justice, Research and Innovation Clifton Grima welcomed Malta’s progression to the ‘Strong Innovator’ category and stated that this positive result provides renewed momentum and drive to continue strengthening our innovation ecosystem, supporting businesses to innovate, fostering stronger collaboration between academia and industry, and encouraging greater private investment in research and development.

“The report also highlights where Malta needs to invest further, especially to continue increasing research funding and opportunities," he said.

Minister Grima underlined the Government’s commitment to continue supporting Malta’s progress, primarily through Xjenza Malta, but also with the active engagement of stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem.

The EIS report delves into a number of categories, some of of which are human resources, digitalisation, innovation, and investment in research and innovation.

Human resources

The report highlights that on human resources, Malta scored 100.9 per cent of the EU average in 2019 and has seen some improvement since, growing by +3.9 percentage points in 2026,”although performance remains below the EU average at 88.7 per cent in 2026.”

It said that the improvement in human resources in 2026 was entirely driven by population involved in lifelong learning.

It notes, however, that human resources for R&I remains a key challenge: Malta's share of students enrolled in tertiary STEM education is below the EU average, contributing to skills shortages, and new doctorate graduates stand at only 22.2 percent of the EU average, the lowest among Member States, the report says.

Digitalisation

The report notes that Malta's digitalisation continued its positive trend since 2023 with a +3.3 percentage point growth, reaching 126.6 per cent of the EU average in 2026, ranking 5th among Member States, down from 4th.

This was driven by an increase in individuals with above basic overall digital skills, it said, while high-speed internet access is unchanged but already the highest level among Member States.

Investment

In term of investments in research and innovation, the report noted that Malta had contrasting performances in 2026, “with the firm investments dimension growing very strongly (+87.1percentage points), moving from 24th to 4th among Member States.”

The report said that this significant increase was driven by non-R&D innovation expenditures, and innovation expenditures per person employed.

It said that, however, these gains should be read alongside R&D expenditure in the business sector, which remains very low at 23.4 per cent of the EU average in 2026, ranking 24th among Member States, indicating that the improvement in firm investments is driven by non-R&D innovation spending rather than a strengthening of the underlying private research base.

It says that private investment in R&I has been an ongoing concern in Malta.

Malta ranks last in the finance and support category at 4 per cent of the EU average, with direct and indirect government support of business R&D (1.2 per cent, 27th), venture capital expenditures (4.1 per cent, 27th) and R&D expenditure in the public sector (6.7 per cent, 26th) all at the bottom of the EU distribution.

Innovation

Malta improved in two of the three dimensions of innovation activities, with a notable increase in the innovators dimension (+37.5 percentage points), albeit from a low base. The score for this dimension is just above the EU average in 2026 at 104.7 per cent.