Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou tops global innovation clusters

Asia accounted for 36 of the world’s top 100 clusters.

Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou has been ranked the world’s top innovation cluster, ahead of Tokyo-Yokohama and San Jose-San Francisco, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

The cluster ranked first in WIPO’s 2026 ranking of the world’s top 100 innovation clusters, which measures concentrations of innovative activity through international patent filings, scientific publications, and venture capital deals.

Seoul ranked fourth, followed by Beijing, Shanghai-Suzhou, New York City, London, Boston-Cambridge, and Paris.

WIPO’s cluster initiative maps cities and regions that bring together universities, researchers, inventors, venture capital, and research and development activity.

“The world’s leading clusters are building blocks of national innovation ecosystems and show the importance of strong connections amongst research, enterprise, talent, and investment,” WIPO Director General Daren Tang said.

China hosts 25 of the world’s 100 largest innovation clusters, whilst the US has 20. Germany follows with seven, whilst India and the UK each have four.

Amongst middle-income economies, Brazil, Egypt, Iran, Malaysia, Mexico, and Türkiye also have clusters in the top 100. Kuala Lumpur represents Malaysia in the ranking.

South-eastern Asia, Eastern Asia, and Oceania account for 36 of the top 100 clusters, compared with 30 in Europe and 23 in Northern America.

The remaining clusters are distributed across Central and Southern Asia, Northern Africa and Western Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

San Jose-San Francisco leads the ranking for innovation intensity relative to population size, followed by Cambridge in the UK, Ningde in China, Boston-Cambridge in the US, and Oxford in the UK.

Daejeon in South Korea entered the intensity top 10 for the first time, ranking 10th.

The 2026 ranking also includes several notable movers. Ningde rose 24 places to 75th, the largest increase in the ranking. Riyadh entered the top 100 for the first time at 92nd.

WIPO released the cluster ranking chapter ahead of the public launch of the Global Innovation Index on 29 September.