Innovation as a source of country’s global competitiveness growth

In the context of ensuring the long-term prosperity of each country, the more and more emphasis is placed on the mutual comparison of the nation´s competitiveness in the European or global area, so every country monitors and supports the development of its global acceptability. The aim of this paper was to analyze the development of Slovakia’s competitiveness through the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) during the period 2006-2016 and to reveal the interrelationships among the GCI indicator and its individual pillars. Of the total 12 pillar scores, a statistically significant correlation with the GCI of Slovakia was confirmed in the case of 7 pillars, whereas the strongest positive relationship was proved for 1st Pillar: Institutions. The level of Slovakia’s spending on R&D belongs to one of the lowest within the EU countries. Over the years 2006-2015, the average R&D intensity fluctuated around 0.68%, whereas in 2015 it reached the value of 1.18%. The top leader in R&D expenditure per capita within the V4 countries is the Czech Republic followed by Hungary, Poland and Slovakia which in 2015 significantly increased its R&D spending to the level of 171.7 € per capita and ranked 2nd in the V4 countries.