According to a roundup at RealClearWorld based on 2010 global prosperity data and analysis from the Legatum Institute, Denmark is the leader among the top 10 innovative countries in the world in 2010, followed by Sweden and the U.S.

Denmark has the lowest costs to starting a business, while Sweden spends more than all but one nation on Research & Development (R&D), at 3.1 percent of GDP.

The U.S. spends on R&D about 2.2 percent of GDP, and its income from royalty receipts (intellectual property here) is tops, totaling almost $92 billion.

These countries are followed by Finland, Great Britain, Norway, Ireland, Singapore, Iceland and Canada.

Legatum says its data was based on 110 countries and 89 different variables in eight major groups: economy, entrepreneurship/opportunity, governance, education, health, safety/security, personal freedom and social capital. According to the study, the most innovative countries in the world are the ones “who contribute to the general advancement of mankind’s wellbeing.”

The study considered the conditions that could foster such activity: a strong entrepreneurial climate; low costs to starting a business; public perception of a good entrepreneurial environment; a country’s ability to commercialize innovation; IT and telecom infrastructure (ICT) that enables productive commercial endeavors.