Summary
In July 2026, the World Intellectual Property Organization and Luiss Business School published the World Intangible Investment Highlights 2026, a report that measured investment in software, data, research and development, organizational know how, brands, design and other intellectual property related assets across 29 economies. According to the report, intangible investment exceeded USD 10 trillion in 2025 and grew more than three times faster than tangible investment between 2008 and 2025. The report also stated that India recorded the fastest recent growth in intangible investment among the 15 largest economies covered, with software and databases forming the largest share of India’s intangible investment.
What the World Intangible Investment Highlights 2026 Says About Business Value and India
WIPO’s 2026 Report and What It Covers
In July 2026, the World Intellectual Property Organization and Luiss Business School published the World Intangible Investment Highlights 2026. The report presented updated information on how businesses and economies were investing in assets that had no physical form, but played an increasingly important role in innovation, competitiveness and business value.
The report drew from the Global INTAN Invest Database and covered 29 economies that together accounted for approximately 57 percent of world GDP. It measured investment in software and databases, research and development, brands, design, organizational capital, new financial products, employer provided training and other intellectual property products. It also compared intangible and tangible investment, studied the relationship between artificial intelligence and intangible investment, and dedicated a special part to brands as productive business assets.
Intangible Investment Crosses USD 10 Trillion
According to the report, intangible investment across the economies covered crossed USD 10 trillion in 2025. Between 2008 and 2025, it grew at a real compound annual rate of 3.5 percent, while tangible investment in factories, machinery, equipment and buildings grew at 0.98 percent.
The report presented this difference as a structural movement in the way companies created value rather than as the temporary result of one economic cycle. A manufacturing company still needed machines and production facilities, but its competitiveness increasingly depended on software, product design, research, supplier systems, confidential knowledge and a trusted brand. A services business depended even more heavily on people, processes, data, technology and reputation, while an artificial intelligence company could derive most of its value from research, algorithms, data, software and organizational capability.
The report also stated that intangible investment proved more resilient during periods of high interest rates, tighter financing and economic uncertainty. Across the economies for which quarterly information was available, intangible investment grew at 5.5 percent annually between 2020 and 2025, while tangible investment grew at 3.2 percent.
Software and Organizational Capital Drive Growth
According to the report, software and databases recorded the fastest growth among intangible asset categories between 2013 and 2023, expanding at an annual rate of 7.3 percent. Organizational capital followed at 4.9 percent, and brands grew at 4.4 percent.
The report nevertheless disclosed that organizational capital remained the largest category by value, accounting for 30.5 percent of total intangible investment in 2023. Research and development accounted for 20.6 percent, software and databases for 17.6 percent, brands for 14.7 percent and design for 11 percent.
The report described organizational capital as including operating models, platforms, supply chains, management systems and distribution networks. These assets often decide whether a company can use its technology and intellectual property successfully. A business may own a valuable patent and still fail if it cannot manufacture, license, market or enforce the invention, just as it may possess useful software without obtaining value because its people and processes cannot integrate the software into daily work.
Brands Become a Major Investment Category
The report dedicated its special theme to brands and stated that brand investment across the economies covered reached USD 1.4 trillion in 2025. It grew at a compound annual rate of 4.2 percent from 2015. According to the report, brands functioned as productive business assets because they carried marketing capability, consumer trust, reputation and distribution strength, and helped businesses differentiate their products, command price premiums and capture a larger share of value.
The report also stated that artificial intelligence increased both the returns and risks associated with brands. Generative tools reduced the cost of producing marketing material, permitted personalization at scale and allowed companies to test campaigns quickly. At the same time, deepfakes, false endorsements, impersonation and synthetic content increased the risk of consumer confusion and reputational injury. As digital content became easier to produce, a familiar and trusted brand became more valuable, but it also required stronger protection and closer monitoring.
Intellectual Property and the Intangible Economy
Many of the assets discussed in the report were closely connected with intellectual property. Patents protected inventions, trademarks protected brands, copyright protected software and creative material, designs protected visual features, and trade secrets protected confidential business information. Data, contracts, licensing rights and organizational knowledge could also form important parts of a company’s intangible asset base.
The report’s findings showed why intellectual property could not be treated only as a registration or litigation subject. Protection remained important, but the commercial value of an intangible asset depended on whether the business identified it, established ownership, maintained appropriate records, integrated it into contracts and transactions, and used it to support products, services, licensing, investment or market growth.
India Leads Recent Intangible Investment Growth
India occupied an important position in the report. According to the report, India recorded the fastest recent growth in intangible investment among the 15 largest economies covered, with growth of 7.9 percent between 2022 and 2023. This placed India ahead of Japan at 4.8 percent, the Philippines at 4.6 percent and the United States at 4.4 percent.
The report stated that India’s intangible investment grew at an annual rate of 5.3 percent between 2013 and 2023, while tangible investment grew faster at 7.8 percent. This meant that India was increasing investment in software, data, brands, research and organizational capability while continuing to build physical infrastructure and manufacturing capacity.
According to the report, intangible investment in India’s formal sector reached approximately 10 percent of formal sector GDP in 2023, compared with 9.7 percent in 2011. In absolute terms, the report estimated India’s intangible investment at approximately USD 78 billion in 2023 on a purchasing power parity basis.
The report disclosed that software and databases accounted for nearly 45 percent of India’s total intangible investment in 2023, the highest share among the economies covered. Organizational capital accounted for approximately 21.8 percent, research and development for 12.7 percent, design for around 11 percent and brands for 9.3 percent. The report connected the high software share with India’s large information technology and software services sector.
The report further stated that India’s brand investment grew at an annual rate of 7.2 percent between 2013 and 2023. At the same time, India’s research and development share remained below that of major industrial economies such as Japan and Germany, indicating that the country’s intangible investment growth continued to be led more strongly by software, databases and business capabilities than by research intensive proprietary technology.
Much of Intangible Investment Remains Unrecorded
The report showed that approximately 62 percent of intangible investment remained outside official national statistics. While research and development and software received recognition in national accounts, spending on brands, market research, design, organizational systems and related capabilities often appeared as a current expense.
According to the report, this treatment gave businesses and governments an incomplete understanding of the assets driving performance and growth. The same difficulty affected valuation, lending, investment and acquisitions because internally created brands, know how, software, data and systems were often difficult to identify and measure. The absence of a convenient accounting number did not remove their business value, but it made documentation, ownership and valuation more difficult.
Closing Thoughts
The report showed that intangible assets now occupy a central place in global investment, with software, research, brands, design, organizational knowledge and intellectual property increasingly shaping business value. India’s recent growth is particularly notable because it places the country among the fastest growing intangible investment economies, with software and databases leading the movement. The report also makes clear that a substantial part of this investment remains difficult to identify and measure, even though it plays an important role in business performance and economic growth.
Source
- World Intellectual Property Organization and Luiss Business School, World Intangible Investment Highlights 2026, July 2026. Read the full WIPO report
Disclaimer
This article is based on the author’s understanding of the report and the subject. Others may hold different opinions or understandings. This article is intended for general information and does not constitute legal advice. Readers should consult an attorney before acting on any legal issue. An AI application was used to generate parts of this article based on user inputs and prompts.