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Which Countries are Granted the Most New Patents?

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Which Countries are Granted the Most New Patents?

Which Countries are Granted the Most New Patents?

Every year, the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) tracks hundreds of thousands of patents across industries.

These patents grant their inventors exclusive intellectual property rights over their creations. They encourage new ideas, spur scientific development, and lead to new technologies and entire sectors being born.

However, the number of patents granted varies greatly across nations. When viewing the origin of each patent’s applicant, we see a handful of countries dominating certain industries.

In this graphic, Jacqueline Ann DeStefano-Tangorra uses 2021 WIPO data to showcase which countries were granted the most new patents, along with their sector categorizations.

Countries with the Most New Patents

In 2021, out of 1,608,375 patents across multiple fields, 87% were granted to innovators from just six countries.

Applicants by CountryGranted Patents (2021)% of Total
🇨🇳 China607,75837.8%
🇺🇸 United States286,20517.8%
🇯🇵 Japan256,89016.0%
🇰🇷 South Korea156,9729.8%
🇩🇪 Germany69,6724.3%
🇬🇧 United Kingdom20,0091.2%
❓ Unknown24,6771.5%
🌎 Other Countries186,19211.6%
World Total1,608,375100.0%

After rapidly increasing its patent output in recent years, China topped the chart in 29 out of 36 total fields including computer technology, electrical machinery, and digital communication. The Chinese government’s focus on innovation led to the nation’s applicants receiving 38% of the 1.6 million patents granted in 2021.

The United States—home to the world’s largest tech companies—came in second with 286,205 granted patents by origin. The U.S. also topped four fields of its own: medical technology, engines and turbines, basic communication processes, and unknown (for inventions that can’t be assigned to a specific field).

Not far behind is Japan with 256,890 granted patents. It dominated the other nations in the fields of semiconductors, optics, and furniture and games, cementing its well-earned reputation of technological innovation.

“Unknown” origin applicants, for which the nationality or country of residence couldn’t be determined for the inventor(s), accounted for 24,677 of granted patents.

The Origin of New Patents by Field

When assessing which technological fields inventors are pursuing in 2021, it’s not unexpected that digital and electrical technologies are in the lead:

RankMain Field of Technology% of Granted Patents
1Computer technology10.3%
2Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy6.6%
3Digital communication6.5%
4Measurement5.9%
5Medical technology4.8%
6Transport4.5%
7Civil engineering3.7%
8Other special machines3.6%
9Audio visual technology3.3%
10Semiconductors3.3%
11Machine tools2.9%
12Chemical engineering2.8%
13Handling2.7%
14Optics2.6%
15Pharmaceuticals2.4%
16Materials, metallurgy2.4%
17Control2.4%
18Mechanical elements2.3%
19Telecommunications2.3%
20Furniture & games2.3%
21Basic materials chemistry2.3%
22Engines, pumps, turbines2.2%
23Biotechnology2.1%
24Organic fine chemistry2.0%
25IT methods for management1.9%
26Macromolecular chemistry, polymers1.7%
27Other consumer goods1.7%
28Environmental technology1.6%
29Thermal Processes and apparatus1.6%
30Surface technology, coating1.5%
31Textile & paper machines1.5%
32Food chemistry0.9%
33Basic communication processes0.6%
34Analysis of biological material0.6%
35Micro structural & nano technology0.2%
36Unknown0.003%

There are also many patents granted mainly in infrastructure-related fields, which have become all the more important following the COVID-19 pandemic and an increasing focus on trade.

These include medical technology, transport, civil engineering, and semiconductors.

A Tech-Savvy Future

The number of patents granted in 2021 is a testament to the growing importance of innovation around the world.

While a select few nations have dominated the patent landscape so far, there are many others making significant contributions to innovation and intellectual property.

As technology continues to advance and the global economy becomes more interconnected, the importance of intellectual property rights will only continue to grow.

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This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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Technology

Visualizing Internet Usage by Global Region

In this infographic, we map out internet usage by global region based on the latest data from the World Bank.

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Map showing internet usage by region.

Visualizing Internet Usage by Global Region

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Digital technologies have become an integral part of our daily lives, transforming communications, business, health, education, and more. Yet, billions of people around the world are still offline, and digital advancement has been uneven.

Here, we map internet usage by region based on data from the World Bank’s Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023.

Digitalization Has Been Uneven

According to the World Bank, between 2018 and 2022, the world gained 1.5 billion new internet users.

In 2020 alone, the share of the global population using the internet increased by 6% (500 million people), marking the highest jump in history. India, in particular, has seen high rates of adoption. For example, in 2018, only 20% of Indians used the internet. By 2022, this percentage had grown to more than 50%.

RegionIndividuals using the internet (% of population)
East Asia & Pacific74
Europe & Central Asia87
Latin America & the Caribbean76
Middle East & North Africa77
North America92
South Asia42
Sub-Saharan Africa34

However, the progress of digitalization has been uneven both within and across countries.

In 2022, one-third of the global population remained offline, with parts of Asia and Africa still experiencing very low rates of internet usage. For instance, more than half of businesses in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Senegal reportedly lack internet connection.

According to the World Bank’s report, when fast internet becomes available, the probability of an individual being employed increases by up to 13%, and total employment per firm increases by up to 22%. Moreover, firm exports nearly quadruple with the availability of fast internet. Across Africa, 3G coverage has been associated with a reduction in extreme poverty, with reductions of 10% seen in Senegal and 4.3% in Nigeria.

Curious to learn more about the internet? Check out this animated chart that shows the most popular web browsers since 1994.

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