Malta has been ranked the 22nd out of the 28 European Union (EU) Member States in innovation performance this year, below EU average, but slightly better than its 23rd place in 2013 after overtaking Croatia. According to local reports on Thursday, the European Commission's Innovation Union Scoreboard acknowledged that Malta is one of five Moderate innovators which are growing at a higher rate than the EU average and their relative performance to the EU has improved. Malta's innovation performance is currently improving at an average annual rate of 2 percent. As a result, Malta's 2013 performance is below its peak performance in 2010. Malta's identified relative weaknesses are in Non-EU doctorate students and new doctorate graduates. Large declines in growth are observed for non-EU doctorate students, sales share of new innovations and license and patent revenues from abroad.