Mapped: The Top 50 Global Science and Technology Clusters

Niccolo Conte
2025-06-17 10:33:00
www.visualcapitalist.com

Mapped: The Top 50 Global Science and Technology Clusters

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The global innovation engine is constantly churning, with new technologies and scientific developments emerging every year.

In the past year alone, major developments have included the explosive rise of generative AI, along with scientific breakthroughs like an injectable drug that can protect people from HIV.

But where in the world are these innovations taking place?

This map highlights the world’s 50 leading science and technology (S&T) clusters for innovation using data from the Global Innovation Index 2024. Clusters are ranked by their combined share of international patent applications and scientific publications.

Asia Dominates Global S&T Clusters

Nearly half (24) of the 50 leading science and technology clusters are in Asia, and 15 of these hubs are in China alone.

Cluster Name	Economy	Patent Applications	Scientific Publications
Tokyo–Yokohama	Japan	134,769	117,294
Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou	China/Hong Kong	116,411	175,364
Beijing	China	42,490	308,561
Seoul	South Korea	67,082	140,385
Shanghai–Suzhou	China	38,699	191,074
San Jose–San Francisco, CA	United States	49,299	57,589
Osaka–Kobe–Kyoto	Japan	38,478	52,800
Boston–Cambridge, MA	United States	18,973	76,250
Nanjing	China	7,857	125,607
San Diego, CA	United States	24,555	20,292
New York City, NY	United States	13,945	75,727
Paris	France	15,648	61,985
Wuhan	China	7,403	101,372
Hangzhou	China	11,225	72,226
Nagoya	Japan	17,184	21,160
Los Angeles, CA	United States	11,847	43,464
Daejeon	South Korea	14,021	26426
Xi’an	China	2018	98853
Washington, DC–Baltimore, MD	United States	5897	72703
Qingdao	China	8442	47000
London	Great Britain	6558	58419
Munich	Germany	10697	27205
Chengdu	China	2331	77466
Seattle, WA	United States	11165	19697
Taipei-Hsinchu	Taiwan	3887	55401
Amsterdam–Rotterdam	Netherlands	4322	52439
Cologne	Germany	7024	33269
Houston, TX	United States	8066	23789
Stuttgart	Germany	9346	14517
Tel Aviv–Jerusalem	Israel	7286	24955
Moscow	Russia	1946	57524
Changsha	China	1256	60712
Singapore	Singapore/Malaysia	5234	35784
Tianjin	China	1378	59459
Philadelphia, PA	United States	5669	32941
Hefei	China	3848	44040
Chicago, IL	United States	5571	30658
Tehran	Iran	388	61774
Chongqing	China	1502	48120
Stockholm	Sweden	6044	19682
Minneapolis, MN	United States	6633	14869
Eindhoven	Netherlands	7893	5249
Frankfurt am Main	Germany	5499	18242
Sydney	Australia	2747	35053
Berlin	Germany	3483	29903
Melbourne	Australia	2017	38564
Harbin	China	276	47569
Madrid	Spain	1636	39016
Jinan	China	1601	38277
Zurich	Switzerland	3862	24162

Of the 1.3 million patent applications published globally between 2019 and 2023, more than 134,000 applications came from the leading Tokyo-Yokohama cluster, making up 10.5% of the global total.

In China, the Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou cluster leads in patent filings, while Beijing is the global leader in scientific research with more 300,000 scientific publications. Beijing also moved up one rank to fourth in 2024, displacing Seoul which now ranks fifth.

The United States—one of the world’s most innovative countries—is second behind China in terms of the total number of S&T clusters, with 11 of the top 50 global clusters.

The Bay Area region of San Jose–San Francisco is the topmost U.S. cluster on the list and is the second most-intensive S&T cluster globally (by per capita applications and publications). Google is the top patent applicant from this region, while Stanford is top scientific publisher.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is both the top patent applicant and scientific publisher in Boston–Cambridge, also among the top 10 S&T clusters globally.

In Europe, Paris is the leading innovation hub, followed by London and Munich. Germany has the most clusters in the continent, with five of them making the top 50.

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