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It's a significant step-up on Australia's fifth place ranking in 2011, where the now seventh placed Sweden was in the top spot.
The Global Creativity Index, spearheaded by Martin Prosperity Institute's Richard Florida, measures creative competitiveness across 139 nations based on technology, talent and tolerance.
The think-tank deems these the three factors driving today's economic development.
"[The world] is pulling away from its previous industrial model to a new one based on creativity and knowledge," says Florida.
"In place of natural resources and large-scale industries that powered the economies of previous centuries, economic growth today turns on knowledge, innovation and talent."
The ranking is welcome news for Brisbane which is preparing for next week's Creative³ conference, the nation's largest conference for creative entrepreneurs.
Conveyers of the conference, which is part of the commercial arm of QUT's Creative Industries Precinct, view the news as nothing they didn't already know, but validation they're making a real impact.
Australian creative industries employ more than 6.2 per cent of our workforce and contribute over $90 billion to the economy in terms of revenue.
"We hope events such as Creative3 will start to put Australia on the map for its globally recognised talent base," says QUT Creative Enterprise Australia CEO Anna Rooke.
"Sometimes Brisbane's creative startup community is underestimated when compared to international hotspots such as Silicon Valley, but we have some of the best and brightest talent here.
"Through Creative³, we're bringing successful entrepreneurs from around the globe to Brisbane, to help our Australian startups access capital, connect and grow in confidence.
"We have a thriving local startup community that is being fostered by incubators and co-working spaces but we need to mature our innovation ecosystem significantly to compete globally."
Creative³ will take place on September 17 and 18 at Brisbane's Convention and Exhibition Centre. Speakers include Ben Johnston (pictured) of Josephmark, a winner at last year's Brisbane Young Entrepreneur Awards; YouTube's Sanoop Luke; CSIRO's Stefan Hajkowicz; Shoes of Prey's Michael Fox; and Mashable's Gwendolyn Regina Tan.
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