At the present stage of the development of the world economy, innovations and the latest technologies are not only decisive for the economic growth of countries, but also serve as indicators of the level of economic well-being of the subjects of the world economy. For all national economies, without exception, the formation of a mechanism for innovative development is the main task, since it serves as a source of additional competitive advantages in the world market. At the same time, in recent decades, in the context of the rapid development of the processes of globalization of the world economy and the internationalization of economic life, the system of innovative development of countries is being transformed, different countries achieve different rates of innovative development, creating their own national innovative models. Thus, studies of the features of the modern development of national innovation systems are quite relevant. The aim of the study is to determine the features and perspective directions of the development of the national innovation system of Ukraine. The article examines the features of the development of the innovation system of Ukraine; an assessment of the country's position in key international ratings that measure innovation potential is presented; analyzed the relationship between the level of innovative development and the level of competitiveness of the country; the directions of improvement of the state innovation policy of Ukraine are determined