Ireland is an up-and-coming knowledge economy, when measured by growth in "creative" employees and research activity, according to a new report by the UK think-tank Demos.

The report rates the Republic as the most rapidly improving economy in Europe under the headings of growth in "creative" employees and research activity. Countries such as Finland, Denmark and Sweden show up strongly.

The report, examines the creative performance of European economies and the US using a range of measures.

The first measures the number of "creative" employees, defined as scientists, engineers, artists, musicians, architects, managers, professionals and others whose jobs involve creative or conceptual tasks.

The US has the highest percentage of creative employees - roughly 30 per cent of its workforce - followed by Belgium, the Netherlands and Finland.

The Republic has 26 per cent of its workforce in "creative" occupations, but has seen "far and away" the greatest growth in these occupations, experiencing a 7.6 per cent average annual growth since 1995.

The Republic ranks in the middle of an overall "euro-talent" index included in the report, which looks at the number of university graduates and scientists.

The country is also improving its ranking in these areas and the researcher puts the State at the top of an index which measures talent and technology growth since 1995.

The researchers also looked at technological activity, as measured by research and development spending as a percentage of GDP and a range of patent applications.

Here the Republic ranks 11th out of the 15 countries measured - which include 14 European countries and the US. This accords with the findings of the National Competitiveness Council, which examined similar data in reports over the past couple of years.

To read the full Demos report click here