Investment in Intangible Assets Surges, led by Funding for Software and Databases Amid AI Boom

Investment in intangible assets such as data, software, brands and other intellectual property-backed assets grew three times faster in 2024 than investment in physical assets such as machinery and buildings, which has languished amid high interest rates and subdued economic recovery, according to new data from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Italy’s Luiss Business School.

In 2024, the United States of America (US) led in absolute levels of intangible asset investment, which nearly doubled that of France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom combined, the next-biggest locales for intangible funding. Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom combined, the next-biggest locales for intangible funding.

Sweden maintained its leading position as the most intangible-asset-intensive economy, with intangible investment at 16 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). Sweden is followed by the US, France, and Finland (all with an intensity of 15 percent of GDP). India's intangible investment intensity (close to 10 percent) puts it ahead of several European Union (EU) economies, as well as Japan. Brazil's intangible intensity (8.5 percent) is comparable to some EU economies, too.

The second edition of the World Intangible Investment Highlights, co-published by WIPO and Italy's Luiss Business School, reveals that in the last year alone, intangible investment across 27 high- and middle-income economies grew by about 3 percent in real terms, reaching USD 7.6 trillion in 2024, up from USD 7.4 trillion in 2023.

“We're witnessing a fundamental shift in how economies grow and compete. While businesses have slowed down investing in factories and equipment during uncertain times, they're doubling down on intangible assets – IP, AI, data, software, know-how and others. This trend has profound implications for policymakers. Countries that understand and nurture intangible investment will be better positioned to grow and thrive in a global economy increasingly driven by technological, digital and cultural innovation.” 

——WIPO Director General Daren Tang

The report demonstrates that investment in intangible assets has shown sustained and resilient growth even during periods of crisis, increasing at a compound annual rate of about 4 percent between 2008 and 2024, far outpacing tangible investment growth of just 1 percent.

The report also shows that:

· Intangible investment constitutes a growing share of GDP (close to 14 percent in 2024), compared with tangible investment's share (11 percent).

· India recorded the fastest growth in intangible investment between 2011-2022 at 6.6 percent annually, outpacing several highly intangible-intensive economies.

· In Brazil, the most recent data show that its intangible investment surged at 14 percent whereas tangible investment grew at 8 percent.

· Software and databases emerge as the fastest growing type of intangible assets, expanding at over 7 percent annually between 2013-2022.

Spotlight on Artificial Intelligence Driving Both Tangible and Intangible Investment

The growth in software and data coincides with, and is driven by, the current artificial intelligence (AI) boom and the report explores “What types of investments are driven by the AI boom?” as its special theme. Accordingly, AI creates two waves of investment: an initial "capacity installation" phase building infrastructure (such as chips, servers, data centers), followed by a "structural transformation" phase where firms reorganize their business processes and retrain workforces to embed the use of AI more deeply.

The impact of AI on tangible infrastructure investment is already visible in the US, where tangible investment grew over 4 percent between 2023 and 2024, driven by major AI hard and soft infrastructure – i.e. massive investments in AI supercomputing, cloud capacity and other AI-related hardware investments - exerting a macroeconomically significant influence on overall investment trends in the US. In other countries, this trend is more nascent, with AI-related tangible investments only starting to emerge and broader impacts on national investment figures expected in the coming years.

“The sustained rise in intangible investment reflects its critical role in driving competitiveness and productivity in today’s economy. 

This shift is particularly evident in the age of AI, where economic growth depends on combined investments in software, data, skills and organizational capital. This report and the underlying Global INTAN-Invest database provide policymakers with the timely data they need to understand and support this transformation.”  

——Cecilia Jona-Lasinio, 

——Cecilia Jona-Lasinio, Professor, Luiss Business School, and co-author of the report