The recent “World Intangible Investment Highlights (WIIH) 2025” report, co-published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Luiss Business School (LBS), highlights an irreversible trend: investment in intangible assets now far outstrips that in tangible assets. This profound transformation has major implications for the growth, innovation, and competitiveness of nations, including France and Europe as a whole.
Unprecedented Growth for Intangible Assets
Since 2008, intangible investment in the global economy has grown more than three times faster than tangible investment. Specifically, between 2008 and 2024, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of intangible investment was approximately 4.1%, compared to 1.1% for tangible investment, representing a 3.7 times faster growth rate. In 2024, global intangible investment reached $7.6 trillion (at current prices), up from $7.4 trillion in 2023.
These invisible assets – including software, databases, intellectual property (IP), research and development (R&D), brands, and design – have become the primary drivers of economic growth. Despite economic uncertainties and restrictive monetary policies, the persistent growth of intangible investment has helped offset a more severe slowdown in overall investment, thereby contributing to the maintenance of productivity growth.
In 2009, the share of intangible investment in GDP surpassed that of tangible investment for the first time, and this gap has continued to widen ever since. In 2024, intangible investment represented nearly 14% of global GDP, compared to 11% for tangible investment.
European Dynamics: Between Growth and Positioning
Europe presents a mixed but overall positive picture regarding intangible investment.
- Growth and Resilience: In Europe, intangible investment generally outpaces tangible investment. France mirrors the dynamics of the United States with stronger intangible growth. In 2024, France recorded the fastest growth in intangible investment among leading economies, with over 5% from 2023 to 2024. Germany saw intangible investment increase by more than 3% per year between 2020 and 2024, offsetting a decline in tangible capital accumulation. The United Kingdom and Italy experienced similar growth rates for both types of investment over this period.
- Intangible Investment Intensity (Share of GDP): In 2024, Sweden maintained its leadership position as the most intangible-intensive economy, reaching 16% of its GDP. It is followed by the United States, France, and Finland, where intangible investment accounted for over 15% of GDP. This shows that France and some Nordic European countries are among the most advanced in integrating intangible assets into their economies. Other European countries like Spain (7.8%) and Greece (7.6%) have lower intensity levels but show positive trends.
- Absolute Investment Levels: France has now surpassed Germany and Japan in terms of absolute intangible investment. In 2024, its intangible investment amounted to over $631 billion (at current prices), compared to $602 billion for Germany. However, Europe, even collectively, remains far behind the United States, whose intangible investment reached $4.7 trillion in 2024, almost double the combined total of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
A key divergence is emerging in Europe: in economies where intangible investment already dominates (such as Sweden, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom), the gap with tangible investment continues to widen. Conversely, in economies where tangible investment is still dominant (such as Spain, Italy, Germany), the gap is narrowing, signaling a catch-up process driven by faster growth in intangibles.
Europe Versus Other Key Regions
- United States: The United States is the undisputed global leader in terms of absolute intangible investment. Between 2020 and 2024, intangible investment there grew more than five times faster than tangible investment. The country also leads in intensity after Sweden.
- India: India stands out for its fastest growth in intangible investment, at nearly 7% per year between 2011 and 2022. This reflects a catch-up process from an initially lower base. India surpasses several EU economies and Japan in terms of intensity (nearly 10% of GDP). However, the most recent data (2021-2022) show a leveling off, with tangible investment slightly surpassing intangible.
- Japan: Japan is an exception. Historically, tangible investment there has grown faster than intangible. However, since 2020, this trend has reversed, with intangible investment growing at a faster rate (1.2% per year versus 0.6% for tangible between 2020 and 2023).
- Brazil: Brazil saw its intangible investment grow at nearly 2% per year between 2011 and 2021, while tangible investment declined. Its intensity is comparable to that of Poland.
Categories of Intangible Assets and the Impact of AI
Among the categories of intangible assets, software and databases are the fastest-growing category, increasing by more than 7% per year between 2013 and 2022. This growth is strongly correlated with and likely driven by the current artificial intelligence (AI) boom. AI stimulates two distinct waves of investment: tangible investments for physical infrastructure (chips, data centers) and intangible investments in digitized information (data, software), innovative property (R&D, patents), and economic competencies (training, organizational transformation).
Organizational capital is the dominant category, representing 30% of total intangible investment in 2022, followed by R&D (22%) and software and databases (18%). France and the United Kingdom show significant shares of organizational capital (nearly 33% for both), while India excels in software and databases (over 50%) and Japan and Germany emphasize R&D (37% and 32% respectively).
The Crucial Challenge of Intangible Asset Valuation and Measurement
Despite their vital importance for competitiveness and economic growth, intangible assets remain poorly understood and underestimated. The report highlights that over 60% of intangible investments are not yet captured in official statistics. This under-measurement leads to under-valuation, misallocation of capital, and under-investment, which can ultimately result in unsuitable economic policies.
The “non-physical” nature of intangible assets makes them intrinsically difficult to measure and account for. For example, many types of intangible assets, such as brands or designs, are not recognized as investments in national accounting frameworks.
It is precisely to address these measurement gaps that the WIPO-LBS partnership, which is behind this report and the Global INTAN-Invest database, was created. By providing comprehensive and updated estimates, the report aims to facilitate evidence-based policymaking, which is essential for the proper economic valuation and strategic investment in these invisible drivers of the modern economy. The Corrado, Hulten, and Sichel measurement framework is used to cover both measured and unmeasured intangible assets, including categories like digitized information, innovative property, and economic competencies.
A Strategic Imperative for Europe
The “World Intangible Investment Highlights 2025” report is a clear call to action. The global economy is increasingly defined by intangible assets. For France and European nations, understanding, measuring, and strategically investing in these assets is not just a growth opportunity but an imperative to remain competitive against global leaders. The leadership of some European countries in intangible investment intensity is encouraging, but the gap with giants like the United States in absolute terms underscores the importance of proactive policies to fully unlock the potential of this invisible economy.
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