Korea Slides to 2nd in Innovation Rankings

Korea has slid to second in Bloomberg's annual Innovation Index for the first time in six years, pushed out of first place by Germany.

Korea came second on a list of 60 countries ranked by the news agency with 88.16 points, but it said Korea's "narrow loss is hardly a reason to anticipate a crumbling in its innovative prowess."

Bloomberg evaluates countries based on "dozens of criteria using seven metrics including research and development spending, manufacturing capability and concentration of high-tech public companies," it said.

Singapore, Switzerland, and Sweden finished third through fifth. The U.S. ranked ninth, Japan 12th, and China 15th.