New Zealand's global innovation ranking has slipped from 17th to 18th, while Australia's has risen.

The rankings are part of the 2014 Global Innovation Index, compiled by Cornell University.

Australia has jumped three places to 17th, taking New Zealand's last spot.

New Zealand scores highly in areas such as political stability, in which it's third, and investor protection, where it's number one.

But its overall ranking has been pulled down by poor performance in other areas, like economic output per person employed, in which it's 64th.

Switzerland topped the index, followed by the UK and Sweden.