World rankings / DATA EXPLORER

THE GLOBAL INDEX #070

Resident patent applications2021

Patent applications filed by residents. Applications and granted patents are separate measures.

World Bank
Comparable ranking year2024Latest published year: 2024
Economies with data113 / 217No observation: 104
First-ranked country or territoryChina1,426,644 patent applications

Top 10

patent applications · 2021
01China
1,426,644
02United States
262,244
03Japan
222,452
04South Korea
186,245
05Germany
39,822
06India
26,267
07Russia
19,569
08France
13,386
10Italy
10,281

Complete ranking

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Resident patent applications · 2021 · patent applications
RankCountry / territoryValue (patent applications)Year
01China1,426,6442021
02United States262,2442021
03Japan222,4522021
04South Korea186,2452021
05Germany39,8222021
06India26,2672021
07Russia19,5692021
08France13,3862021
09United Kingdom11,5922021
10Italy10,2812021
11Iran10,2102021
12Türkiye8,2342021
13Canada4,7102021
14Brazil4,6662021
15Poland3,3772021
16Australia2,9662021
17Netherlands2,0802021
18Singapore2,0242021
19Austria1,8722021
20South Africa1,8042021
21Sweden1,7712021
22Israel1,5922021
23Finland1,5572021
24Saudi Arabia1,3982021
25Indonesia1,3972021
26Spain1,3082021
27Ukraine1,3022021
28Switzerland1,2882021
29Mexico1,1172021
30Denmark1,0902021
31Vietnam1,0662021
32Norway9462021
33Malaysia8832021
34Egypt8812021
35Thailand8672021
36Belgium7992021
37Romania7722021
38Portugal7112021
39Czechia5412021
40Philippines4902021
41Hungary4332021
42Colombia4322021
43Pakistan4262021
44Uzbekistan4132021
45Argentina4062021
46Chile4022021
47Hong Kong SAR China4012021
48Greece3942021
49New Zealand3302021
50Belarus2762021
51Algeria2682021
52Sri Lanka2662021
53Morocco2542021
54Slovenia2222021
55Bulgaria1652021
56Kenya1602021
57Slovakia1462021
58Serbia1382021
59Azerbaijan1192021
60Luxembourg1122021
61Mongolia1092021
62Latvia1042021
63Syria1022021
64Peru942021
65Georgia902021
66Kyrgyzstan832021
67Lithuania812021
68Croatia772021
69Ireland752021
70Bangladesh742021
71Barbados732021
72United Arab Emirates692021
73Moldova642021
74Bosnia & Herzegovina532021
75Qatar472021
76North Macedonia422021
77Armenia402021
77Guyana402021
79Ecuador352021
79Panama352021
81Iceland342021
82Mozambique302021
82Oman302021
84Estonia252021
84Jordan252021
86Albania232021
87Cuba212021
88Yemen202021
89Jamaica162021
90Costa Rica152021
91Rwanda142021
91Uganda142021
93Zambia132021
94Paraguay102021
95Guatemala92021
96Dominican Republic72021
96San Marino72021
98Madagascar62021
98Mauritius62021
100Bolivia52021
100Monaco52021
100Malta52021
103Andorra32021
103Bahrain32021
103Botswana32021
103Djibouti32021
107Brunei22021
107Macao SAR China22021
107El Salvador22021
107Trinidad & Tobago22021
111Cape Verde12021
111Cyprus12021
111Samoa12021

How this ranking works

For annual statistics, the default is the newest year covering at least 70% of the maximum available country coverage, and at least 20 economies where possible. A ranking uses one year or report edition; missing observations are not replaced with another year. Newer years with lower coverage can be selected.

Intentional homicide rates and peace scores rank from lowest to highest; other indicators rank from highest to lowest. Ranks use original values and competition ranking for ties, for example 1, 2, 2, 4. Filtering or changing display order does not recalculate global ranks. Higher values are not necessarily better.

Statistics reflect the public source snapshot, not live measurements. Some series are modeled estimates or multi-year averages. See original metadata.

No observation (104)

Afghanistan · American Samoa · Angola · Antigua & Barbuda · Aruba · Bahamas · Belize · Benin · Bermuda · Bhutan · British Virgin Islands · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cambodia · Cameroon · Cayman Islands · Central African Republic · Chad · Channel Islands · Comoros · Congo - Brazzaville · Congo - Kinshasa · Curaçao · Côte d’Ivoire · Dominica · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Eswatini · Ethiopia · Faroe Islands · Fiji · French Polynesia · Gabon · Gambia · Ghana · Gibraltar · Greenland · Grenada · Guam · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Haiti · Honduras · Iraq · Isle of Man · Kazakhstan · Kiribati · Kosovo · Kuwait · Laos · Lebanon · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Liechtenstein · Malawi · Maldives · Mali · Marshall Islands · Mauritania · Micronesia · Montenegro · Myanmar (Burma) · Namibia · Nauru · Nepal · New Caledonia · Nicaragua · Niger · Nigeria · North Korea · Northern Mariana Islands · Palau · Palestinian Territories · Papua New Guinea · Puerto Rico · Senegal · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Sint Maarten · Solomon Islands · Somalia · South Sudan · St. Kitts & Nevis · St. Lucia · St. Martin · St. Vincent & Grenadines · Sudan · Suriname · São Tomé & Príncipe · Tajikistan · Tanzania · Timor-Leste · Togo · Tonga · Tunisia · Turkmenistan · Turks & Caicos Islands · Tuvalu · U.S. Virgin Islands · Uruguay · Vanuatu · Venezuela · Zimbabwe

Source & definition

Indicator definition
Patent applications filed by residents. Applications and granted patents are separate measures.
Unit
patent applications
Source & definition
World Bank · IP.PAT.RESD
Open original source ↗
Original metadata
Patent applications are worldwide patent applications filed through the Patent Cooperation Treaty procedure or with a national patent office for exclusive rights for an invention--a product or process that provides a new way of doing something or offers a new technical solution to a problem. A patent provides protection for the invention to the owner of the patent for a limited period, generally 20 years.

{
  "id": "IP.PAT.RESD",
  "name": "Patent applications, residents",
  "unit": "",
  "source": {
    "id": "2",
    "value": "World Development Indicators"
  },
  "sourceNote": "Patent applications are worldwide patent applications filed through the Patent Cooperation Treaty procedure or with a national patent office for exclusive rights for an invention--a product or process that provides a new way of doing something or offers a new technical solution to a problem. A patent provides protection for the invention to the owner of the patent for a limited period, generally 20 years.",
  "sourceOrganization": "WIPO Patent Report: Statistics on Worldwide Patent Activity, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), note: The International Bureau of WIPO assumes no responsibility with respect to the transformation of these data.",
  "topics": [
    {
      "id": "14",
      "value": "Science & Technology "
    }
  ]
}