There has been a surge of investment in intangible assets led by funding for software and databases amid the AI boom, according to a new report from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The second edition of World Intangible Investment Highlights 2025, written in conjunction with Italy’s Luiss Business School, shows that intangible investments in the global economy grew three times faster than tangible investments, like machinery and factories, between 2008 and 2024, despite economic headwinds and business uncertainty.
The new data from the UN agency reveals that intangible asset investment grew by about 3% in real terms, reaching $7.6trn in 2024, up from $7.4trn in 2023. Tangible investment has remained almost flat since 2020.
The report examines intangible asset investment that includes categories like software, brands and other intellectual property-backed assets across 27 high- and middle-income economies.
Intangible asset categories of software and data grew more than 9% in nominal terms between 2021 and 2022, well above the average growth rate over the 2013 to 2022 period.
According to the report, this growth in software and data coincides with, and is “likely driven” by, the current AI boom. The report explains that AI creates two waves of investment: an initial “capacity installation” phase when infrastructure such as chips, servers and data centres are built, followed by a “structural transformation” phase when companies reorganise their business processes and retrain workforces to embed the use of AI more deeply.
The report also found that investment in other intangibles like brands and design has undergone a recent surge, with spending on brands rising by more than 12% between 2021 and 2022, and design increasing by over 10% during the same period.
In 2024, the US led in absolute levels of intangible asset investment, which was nearly double that of France, Germany, Japan and the UK combined, the next-biggest locales for intangible funding.
WIPO director Daren Tang said: “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.”
He continued that this trend has “profound implications for policymakers”, adding: “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.”
The report is based on data from Global Intan-Invest, which provides statistics on cross-country investment. WIPO notes that the dataset covers all intangible asset classes, including those assets not yet included in official statistics, thus helping to bridge data gaps and facilitate policymaking.
The research includes estimates from India (up until 2022), Japan (until 2023) and the first-ever estimates from Brazil. India recorded the fastest growth in intangible investment between 2011 and 2022 at 6.6% annually, outpacing several highly intangible-intensive economies. In Brazil, the most recent data show that its intangible investment surged by 14% whereas tangible investment grew at 8%.
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