Which Country Accepts the Most Patents by Residents?

Based on a comparison of 128 countries in 2020, China ranked the highest in patent applications of residents with 1,344,817 followed by USA and Japan. On the other end of the scale was Trinidad and Tobago with 1.00, Lesotho with 1.00 and Bhutan with 1.00.

Total patent applications of residents reached 2,304,400 in 2020 in the World according to World Bank. This is 3.15 % more than in the previous year and 46.3 % more than 10 years ago.

Historically, total patent applications of residents reached an all time high of 2,378,500 in 2018 and an all time low of 601,000 in 1991. The average annual growth amounted to 3.68 % since 1960.

The top ranked country, China, accounted for 58.4 % of patent applications of residents in the world. The top 3 countries hold a 79.9 % share while the ten largest countries some 93.2 % in 2020.

Data for more countries are available at Patent Applications (Residents) indicator page.