New Zealand has been ranked 13th in the world in the 2012 Global Innovation Index.
That's two places up from last year and ahead of countries like Norway, Israel and Australia, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says.
The index is an indicator of international competitiveness and New Zealand scores highly on the ease of starting a business, education, knowledge creation and the number of new businesses per capita.
Switzerland, Sweden and Singapore held the top three rankings while Norway was 14th, Israel 17th and Australia 23rd.
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