The Netherlands is the fifth most innovative country in Europe, surpassing Germany for the first time, according to a list published by the European Commission on Tuesday.

The top six countries on the Commission’s list are at least 20% more innovative than the European average, the Financieele Dagblad said on Wednesday.

Switzerland tops the list with a score 64.6% higher than the European average, followed by Sweden, Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands which registered a score 29.5% above the European average.

The Commission’s study also revealed that Europe is less innovative than Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea and the US. China is quickly catching up. All these countries spend more on innovation than the Netherlands, the paper noted.

Read the report on the Netherlands