According to the Regional Innovation Scoreboard 2023, prepared by the European Commission, the Ústí Region, together with the Karlovy Vary Region, belongs to the group of emerging innovators (Emerging Innovator +). In 2023, the Northwest region reached only 66 % of the European average and 69.7 % of the Czech Republic average. Although the Ústí Region is still second to last in terms of GDP, between 2017 and 2022 it recorded the seventh highest increase in GDP among regions, namely by 19.3 %. And these are not the last positive trends that reflect the development of the Ústí Region.

Productivity growth  

Relatively rapid growth between 2019 and 2022 can be seen in the Ústí Region in particular in terms of productivity measured by gross value added relative to the number of employees. In the last monitored year, the region practically caught up with the Liberecký Region and came significantly closer to the Moravian-Silesian Region. The greatest increase in productivity between 2019 and 2022 in the Ústí Region occurred in the sector of information and communication activities (37.5 %) and manufacturing industry (37.4 %), i.e. in fields supported by the Regional Innovation Strategy, which is fulfilled by the Innovation Center of the Ústí Region. 

Expenditure on science, research, investment 

Improvement and growth can also be seen in spending on science and research in relation to the total number of employees in research and development. Despite this, the Ústí Region has one of the lowest numbers of employees in research and development among all Czech regions. This deficit stands out especially if the results of the Ústí Region are compared with the average results for the whole of the Czech Republic, when the Ústí Region only achieves approximately 20 % of this value (3.2 workers in research and development per 1000 inhabitants in the Ústí Region compared to 15.8 for the whole of the Czech Republic). On the other hand, the expenses for such an employee increased. This is most likely due to the transition to alternative sources of energy, industrial automation (Industry 4.0) and the decarbonisation of chemical production, and it means that businesses in the region are able to use innovation.  

Third highest salaries for specialists 

The problem of the Ústí Region is the outflow of educated labor from the region due to the lower supply of jobs with higher qualifications. This is also reflected in the number of specialists in the region. The number of specialists in the Ústí Region significantly lags behind the average values for the whole of the Czech Republic (only 50 % above the Czech average).  

Against this trend, however, is the salary of specialists, which has grown significantly in recent years and even exceeded the national average in the last monitored year. The wages of specialists in the region are now even the 3rd highest in an inter-regional comparison, right behind Prague and the Central Bohemian Region. At the same time, it is a big shift compared to the beginning of the monitored period, when the wages of specialists in the region were significantly behind the average and their level was the 9th highest. The increase in specialists' wages can be attributed to the good accessibility of the region from Prague and the Central Bohemian Region, as well as to the region's efforts to significantly support and attract these specialists to the Ústí Region in recent years. 

“Productivity growth in key sectors and growing investments in industrial automation are evidence of the right direction of development. Although we still face challenges in the area of human capital, the positive development of specialists' wages shows that the region is trying to become an attractive place for talented people. Our strategy to support entrepreneurship and technological innovation also helps this trend,Martin Mata, director of the Innovation Center of the Ústí Region, comments on the new data. 

Data collection and interpretation of the development trends of the Ústí Region took place within the project Smart Accelerator for the Ústí Region III, registration number CZ.02.01.02/00/22_009/0004316, which is handled by the Innovation Center of the Ústí Region together with partners.