GII

GII is an acronym with multiple uses, most prominently referring to two international indices: the Global Innovation Index and the Gender Inequality Index. Both are used in policy, research, and development discussions to compare countries and track progress over time.

The Global Innovation Index (GII) is an annual ranking produced jointly by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It assesses a country’s capacity to innovate and its innovation performance by aggregating indicators across seven pillars: Institutions; Human Capital and Research; Infrastructure; Market Sophistication; Business Sophistication; Knowledge and Technology Outputs; and Creative Outputs. The index combines inputs and outputs into a single score and ranking, drawing on data from multiple international sources. It covers a broad set of economies and is used by policymakers, researchers, and business leaders to benchmark performance, identify policy priorities, and monitor changes over time.

The Gender Inequality Index (GII) is a composite index published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Human Development Report. It measures gender-based disparities across three dimensions: reproductive health (such as maternal mortality and adolescent birth rates); empowerment (including women’s political representation and educational attainment); and economic activity (notably female labor force participation). The GII is scaled from 0 to 1, where lower values indicate less inequality. It is used to track progress toward gender equality and to compare countries, though it has faced criticisms regarding data quality, indicator selection, and methodological choices.