Vietnam leads world in high-tech trade, creative goods exports

Updated: 17:10, 17/09/2025

Vietnam ranks first globally in both high-tech exports and imports and in creative goods exports, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s 2025 Global Innovation Index.

The report was released Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland, covering 139 economies, up from 133 last year.

Humanoid robot developed by Vietnam's robotics firm VinMotion.

Vietnam held its overall 44th position in the 2025 Global Innovation Index, unchanged from last year. It shared the top spot with Malaysia and the Philippines in high-tech exports, with such goods making up 36.1% of their total trade.

Electronics, telecommunications, computers, and electronic components accounted for more than a third of Vietnam’s exports. Its high-tech imports accounted for 29.4%, the same as Hong Kong, and they were followed by Malaysia and the Philippines.

The report said while Vietnam relies heavily on such imports, the figure also reflects its deep integration into global supply chains.

In creative goods, Vietnam ranked first along with China, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. It shows it is not relying solely on electronics and high-tech products but is diversifying its exports.

Vietnam’s innovation input rank rose three places to 50, driven by improvements in institutions, market development and business sophistication.

Its output rank slipped one place to 37, but still outperformed its input score, showing efficiency in converting resources into knowledge, technology, and creative products.

With an overall score of 37.1, Vietnam remained the second-best performer among lower-middle-income economies, behind India and ahead of the Philippines. In Southeast Asia, it ranked third behind Singapore and Malaysia.

The report also placed Vietnam in the global top 10 in several other indicators, including labor productivity growth (4th), mobile app creation (7th) and business-funded R&D spending as a share of total R&D (8th).

According to WIPO, Vietnam is among the nine fastest climbers in rankings among middle-income economies since 2013. From 2014 to 2024 it was among the three fastest-growing countries in labor productivity alongside China and Ethiopia.

WIPO recognized Vietnam as an "overperformer" in innovation relative to its level of development for the 15th consecutive year. "India and Viet Nam maintain their remarkable streak as innovation overperformers for a 15th consecutive year since 2011," the report said. "

These lower middle-income economies outperform their income group across all seven Global Innovation Index [GII] pillars, even surpassing upper middle-income benchmarks."

Experts said Vietnam’s consistent "overperformer" status reflects a resilient innovation foundation, an improved business environment and rising private-sector investment in R&D.

The GII, which is based on 80 indicators, has become an important reference for policymaking, with 77% of member countries using it for creating innovation and digital transformation strategies.

In Vietnam, the index is considered a key reference tool for policymaking, guiding efforts to promote innovation, advance digital transformation, and develop a knowledge economy.