CC-BY-NC-NDFedajev, AleksandraPanić, MarijaŽivkovic, Živan2024-01-252024-01-252023978-86-6305-136-22620-0597https://mksm.tfbor.bg.ac.rs/downloads/2023/IMCSM_2023_Book_of_proceedings_Issue_1.pdfhttps://repozitorijum.tfbor.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/5813While the Western Balkan (WB) countries have been actively seeking membership in the EU, their level of development is diverging more and more from that of the EU as a whole. Along with the protracted reform processes and numerous political and social unrest, these nations' lack of innovation should be considered a possible cause of these results. Based on information from the GII report for 2021, this research seeks to conduct a comparative analysis of the innovation in the WB countries and pinpoint their major advantages and disadvantages in this area. According to the results, Serbia is the top-ranked country when all factors are considered. The results have outlined some recommendations and instructions for economic policymakers in these countries to enhance innovation in the future.enInnovationGIIInnovative systemWestern BalkanconferenceObject