Oakland, California – BizWorld announces its July 2024 update to the Draper Innovation Index Global (DII Global), which evaluates each nation’s ability to develop, support, and retain entrepreneurs, innovators, startups, and investors. First published in 2021, the DII Global provides the most well-rounded and up-to- date look at entrepreneurial environments across the globe.

“This month features a spotlight on high-performing South American economies,” said BizWorld founder Tim Draper. “Countries such as Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile, which have all risen by dozens of ranks since we started the Draper Innovation Index, speaks to the impact that sound economic freedom policy can have. The DII Global rankings powerfully demonstrate that many South American countries have made major progress within fairly short time periods. In other words, if new leadership pursues economic freedom policies, nations can make a real difference in their entrepreneurial and innovation environment and therefore in the lives of their citizens.”

Top Takeaways from the DII Global July 2024 Update

• Denmark fell across all three scenarios (including from 4th to 8th place on the DII rankings) due primarily to its currency’s comparatively weak performance relative to bitcoin.
• This decline allowed Canada and Australia to each move up one place on the DII rankings; they finished in 4th and 5th place, respectively.
  After declining last month and outperforming Denmark Sweden rebounded from 8th place to 6th in the DII rankings.
  Norway continued to fall from 16th to 19th place in the DII Balanced scenario and from 16th to 21st in Emerging Innovation due to the ramifications of its wealth tax.
• Jamaica rose by 20 places in the DII rankings – due to its currency’s strong performance against bitcoin and very low World Uncertainty Index.
  Despite a ‘negative’ outlook from the S&P Country Risk Ratings and a ‘Do Not Travel’ rating from the State Department, Ukraine rose across all three scenarios due to its currency’s strong performance against bitcoin.
• Rebounding from a decline caused by a ‘negative’ outlook from S&P, Ecuador rose in the rankings to 134th place due to its currency’s strength.
• Nigeria, on the other hand, saw inflation climb to a 28-year high in recent months along with an increasing World Uncertainty Index that served to push it down by 23 places to 197th place on the Balanced rankings.
• Mexico fell 15 places in the DII Global to 102nd and 14 places in Government Quality.
• Egypt saw declines across all DII Global rankings, dragged lower by currency and World
  Uncertainty Index performance.
• Jordan dropped from 107th to 121st in the DII Global as currency performance against bitcoin
  offset a ‘stable’ outlook from S&P and World Uncertainty Index trends.
• After a dramatic decline last month, Belize recovered from 128th to 114th in the DII Global buoyed
  by currency performance against bitcoin.
• Turkey continues to fluctuate in the DII Global as inflation trends continue to impact currency
  performance pushing it from 102nd to 115th

South American Highlight on DII Global Emerging Innovation Rankings

Since the start of the DII Global, several South and Central American countries have seen considerable improvements in their scores, largely due to new economic freedom policies

• Uruguay, which started at 134th place on the DII Global Emerging Innovation rankings, is currently in 42nd place due to improved performance on indicators such as Freedom House’s Global Freedom Score and Fraser’s Economic Freedom Index as well as comparatively higher venture capital momentum.
• Argentina’s performance has seen fluctuations due to its prior economic struggles, especially with inflation. It started at 167th place in September 2021. President Javier Milei’s government has improved the country’s economy thus far in 2024, as illustrated by its 100th place ranking in Emerging Innovation, Argentina’s all-time best performance in that scenario.
• Paraguay has consistently risen up the DII Emerging Innovation rankings over the past three years, from 144th in September 2021 to 120th in July 2024.
• As one of the first and only countries to adopt bitcoin as its national currency, El Salvador has seen considerable improvement in its DII Emerging Innovation score: from 180th in September 2021 to 109th as of July 2024. This has helped attract investment and innovation, leading to an increase in venture capital momentum.
• Chile started at 80th in Emerging Innovation and has since climbed to 22nd place due to a variety of factors: strong Social and Economy category scores, cryptocurrency-friendly policies, and above- average venture capital momentum.

“Leadership embracing economic freedom and crypto-friendliness were key factors in driving increased venture capital momentum and economic growth,” said BizWorld Chief Economic Advisor Dr. Wallace Walrod. “Collectively these countries have made notable strides putting economic freedom at the top of their respective policy priorities. As seen in most of the countries at the top of the global rankings, economic freedom, openness, and transparency are the best foundations for stable long-term economic success.”

The DII Global will release monthly updates to continually reflect the latest developments in global innovation and entrepreneurship, available here.
About BizWorld

BizWorld.org is a global non-profit organization based in Oakland, CA, whose mission is to enable youth from all backgrounds to unlock the power of entrepreneurship to create career opportunities, inspire self- reliance, and build confidence that drives economic prosperity globally. Founded over 25 years ago by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper, BizWorld.org programs teach students real-world 21st century skills and leadership that encourage them to become responsible leaders and entrepreneurs of tomorrow. More than 850,000 students in more than 100 countries have participated in BizWorld programs. https://www.bizworld.org/