New data testifies that investment in intangibles has been much more resilient compared to investment in tangibles. If a trend is checked, then India recorded the fastest growth in investment in intangibles in large economies from 2011 to 2020, thereby outperforming even countries with high levels of intangible investments relative to their GDP, including Sweden and the United States. This fact is based on a report by WIPO.
So, here is how the WIPO report on India summarizes the viewpoint: "That, indeed, development towards intangible investment stands at par with some of the advanced economies; its numbers in 2020 are not very far from those of Sweden. Intangible assets include elements of R&D, software, data, design, brand value, reputation, supply chain expertise, and high-level skills; in effect, the assets related to intellectual property in various forms".
These intangible assets will be key to creating value across firms, economies, and societies. In fact, the report states that such assets are the highest contributors to corporate and national success/prosperity in the competitive marketplace.
In India, investment in intangibles is growing at a rate greater than tangibles. The trend becomes accentuated further if one were to exclude the informal sector. The share of the intangible investments to GDP has already exceeded 10% for the economy of India in 2019, much like the EU-22 average and that year higher than Japan's 9%. The share of the intangible investment to the GDP for the country stood at 10.4% in 2019, and in 2020 it remained at a strong 9.4%, showing continuity with no break in spite of the crisis period due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This implied that, in 2023, intangible investments represented over 16% of GDP in very intangible-intensive economies, like Sweden, the US, and France. This meant that software and data, accompanying brands, organizational capital, and new financial products, have been the fastest-growing categories of intangible investment in the last decade. If we base it on the growth rates from 2011 to 2021, software and data, along with brands, have grown three times compared to R&D.
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