No. 23 – Estonia

Overall score: 0.94
Innovation inputs score: 1.5
Innovation performance score: 0.29
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $28.6 billion
Foreign Direct Investment: $6.7 billion

Like Cyprus, Estonia is in the European Union's group of Moderate Innovators, with levels of innovation below the EU average. The original home of Skype, the Baltic nation has been hit hard by the global recession: On Feb. 13, the government announced GDP growth for the final quarter of 2008 had plunged 9.4% compared with the previous year.