OREANDA-NEWS. April 30, 2010. Estonia ranks in a high 12th place among countries of the European Union by the innovation index, which according to Aavo Heinlo, chief analyst at Statistics Estonia, is the result of constant innovation growth at companies.

The innovation index for Estonia, based on data from 2009 and published in March 2010, is higher than the average index for the 27 EU member states, Heinlo said.

In terms of the rate of growth of the index Estonia ranks 5th in the EU, after Bulgaria, Cyprus, Malta and Romania. As late as in 2004 Estonia was still in the group of the worst performers on that ratio, it stands in Heinlo's blog entry on the Statistics Estonia website.

The European Commission calculates the innovation index based on 29 different criteria, which include human resources, financing and support, investments, entrepreneurship, innovators, and economic effects.

Full versions of the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) have been published annually from 2001. The number of countries covered increased to 37 in 2007 and the number of indicators used to 29 in 2008. The development in innovation performance is calculated for each country and for the EU-27 using data over a five-year period.