Global Innovation Regulation 2024 Rankings

Research | March 25, 2025

Image: Global Regulation Index, Innovate UK

Innovate UK Report on 2024 Global Regulation Rankings - Who's Getting It Right?

Last summer, the UK’s national innovation agency, ranked 21 countries on how well their regulators support innovation in sectors like AI, fintech, and health tech. Rather than focusing on the number of innovative policies, competition, or economic growth, the 2024 Global Regulation Index (64 page PDF) looks at how adaptable, collaborative, and forward-thinking each country is when it comes to modern regulation.

How the Rankings Were Built

Countries were scored based on a combination of public data, policy analysis, consultation activity, and expert review. This means the rankings capture both measurable outputs and qualitative factors, such as how willing a government is to try new ideas or adjust outdated rules.

See:  UK to Cut Regulatory Red Tape to Boost Tech and Growth

The report scores each country on 37 metrics across five core pillars that reflect how regulators engage with emerging (tech) innovations.  In brackets is each pillar's weight to reflect its importance in calculating a country's final score, normalized on a 100 point scale.

• Adaptability (27.5%) – How responsive the regulatory environment is to change
• Clarity & Reliability (20%) – How understandable and stable the rules are
• Collaboration (20%) – How well regulators engage with innovators and stakeholders
• Experimentation (20%) – How often pilot programs or sandbox trials are used
• Entrepreneurship Support (12.5%) – How much the system enables startups to grow

Weighted Contribution Rankings by Country

All 21 countries examined received a total score out of 100, based on weighted contributions from the five categories mentioned above.

See:  Innovative Approaches to Smarter Regulation

Here's the full list:

2024 Global Regulation Index – Summary Data Table

Ranking Insights

Based on the data and rankings, a country will perform well in this study if they perform highly across the board, from clarity and adaptability to how much they support startups.  That's what helps Singapore come out on top. They didn't have the highest score in a single area but they did well on all five, and their consistency makes it the most balanced and reliable regulatory environment for innovation in the study.

South Korea is another good example.  It led the rankings in policy clarity and did well in startup support too. With solid scores in adaptability and experimentation, it climbed to second overall.  So it's not just about trying new things but about doing them well, consistently, and at scale.

See:  Balancing Fintech Innovation and Regulation

The United States had high marks for adaptability and experimentation, which makes sense given its size and diversity of its innovation economy but it scored lower in collaboration and reliability. Likely because it's such a complex regulatory system and federal and state rules often overlap, so it can mean uncertainty and slower timelines for businesses.

Further down the list, sizable economies like France, Germany, and Japan received middle rankings.  While their regulations are generally stable and clear they haven't moved as quickly to adapt or test new ideas.  A steady approach is predictable but it can hinder innovation when new technologies and/or industries appear.

At the lower end, countries like India, Brazil, and Nigeria scored high in entrepreneurship support (a lot of energy and activity for their startup ecosystems).  But they struggled with clarity, coordination, and the ability to keep up with change. The talent and ambition are there but the policy foundation to support it, may be lacking.

Canada Ranks Top in Experimentation But...

Canada’s story is different. It ranked first in the world for regulatory experimentation (actually tied for first rank together with Singapore and South Korea), which means regulators are doing more testing, piloting, and sandboxing than anyone else. That's got to be a positive sign, as it shows willingness to study new approaches whether it's for digital assets, open banking or AI oversight.  But experimentation only accounts for a fifth of the overall score and that alone isn't enough.

See:  The Crisis Canada and Fintech Can’t Afford to Waste

In other areas like adaptability, clarity, and support for entrepreneurs, Canada lands more in the middle of the global rankings. The real challenge is moving from testing ideas to turning them into clear, national rules that help startups scale and compete. Right now, overlapping rules across provinces and slow implementation timelines are still a barrier for many. So while Canada is active on the front end of innovation, it hasn’t yet turned those efforts into major economic or competitive advantages.

Why This Matters

Good innovation policy isn’t just about making new rules. It’s about building systems that let businesses grow, take risks, and move forward without getting stuck in red tape. Canada's report ranking shows that regulators are starting in the right place by asking questions, running pilots, and listening to industry. But in other countries, those early steps turn into action more quickly. If Canada wants to keep up, it needs to make its rules clearer, reduce overlap between provinces, and move faster to turn pilot programs into policies that business can rely on at scale.

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