Technology
Which Countries are Granted the Most New Patents?
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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 Country | Granted Patents (2021) | % of Total |
---|---|---|
🇨🇳 China | 607,758 | 37.8% |
🇺🇸 United States | 286,205 | 17.8% |
🇯🇵 Japan | 256,890 | 16.0% |
🇰🇷 South Korea | 156,972 | 9.8% |
🇩🇪 Germany | 69,672 | 4.3% |
🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 20,009 | 1.2% |
❓ Unknown | 24,677 | 1.5% |
🌎 Other Countries | 186,192 | 11.6% |
World Total | 1,608,375 | 100.0% |
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:
Rank | Main Field of Technology | % of Granted Patents |
---|---|---|
1 | Computer technology | 10.3% |
2 | Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy | 6.6% |
3 | Digital communication | 6.5% |
4 | Measurement | 5.9% |
5 | Medical technology | 4.8% |
6 | Transport | 4.5% |
7 | Civil engineering | 3.7% |
8 | Other special machines | 3.6% |
9 | Audio visual technology | 3.3% |
10 | Semiconductors | 3.3% |
11 | Machine tools | 2.9% |
12 | Chemical engineering | 2.8% |
13 | Handling | 2.7% |
14 | Optics | 2.6% |
15 | Pharmaceuticals | 2.4% |
16 | Materials, metallurgy | 2.4% |
17 | Control | 2.4% |
18 | Mechanical elements | 2.3% |
19 | Telecommunications | 2.3% |
20 | Furniture & games | 2.3% |
21 | Basic materials chemistry | 2.3% |
22 | Engines, pumps, turbines | 2.2% |
23 | Biotechnology | 2.1% |
24 | Organic fine chemistry | 2.0% |
25 | IT methods for management | 1.9% |
26 | Macromolecular chemistry, polymers | 1.7% |
27 | Other consumer goods | 1.7% |
28 | Environmental technology | 1.6% |
29 | Thermal Processes and apparatus | 1.6% |
30 | Surface technology, coating | 1.5% |
31 | Textile & paper machines | 1.5% |
32 | Food chemistry | 0.9% |
33 | Basic communication processes | 0.6% |
34 | Analysis of biological material | 0.6% |
35 | Micro structural & nano technology | 0.2% |
36 | Unknown | 0.003% |
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.

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.
Technology
Charted: Is Google’s Search Product Still a Monopoly?
This is the first time since 2015 that Google Search’s market share has stayed below 90% for three full months. An ominous sign?

Google Search’s Market Share Fell Below 90% in Late 2024
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.
This chart breaks down the average Q4 2024 market share of major search engine operators, including Google, Microsoft Bing, Yahoo!, and Yandex.
Data is sourced from Statcounter as of 2024.
Early Warning Signs for Google Search?
In the last quarter of 2024, Google Search’s worldwide market share dropped below 90%.
This is the first time it’s consistently stayed below 90% since 2015, averaging 89.6% in the last three months of the year.
Date | Search Market Share (Oct–Dec, 2024) |
---|---|
89.7% | |
Bing | 4.0% |
YANDEX | 2.6% |
Yahoo! | 1.3% |
Other | 2.4% |
The reasons behind this drop are not entirely obvious. Industry media outlet Search Engine Land points out that Google’s market share has stayed fairly consistent, except for in Asia where three months of decline seems to have had effect.
Main search rivals, Bing and Yahoo! all gained share in the same time period.
AI is Coming For Search
The source for this graphic, Statcounter, does not measure search metrics for AI models like ChatGPT.
But ChatGPT and Perplexity.ai are coming for internet search. Both AI models offer searching for relevant information with their free versions.
While there’s no big dataset yet on whether users have changed behavior, AI-aficionados aren’t limiting themselves to traditional research or rewriting emails.
They’re also searching for everything from recipes, memes, and fashion inspiration: all of which are traditionally in the purview of Google Search.
And ads are coming to these models as well, with Perplexity announcing their monetization plans in November 2024.
What does this all mean? As it happens, 60% of Google’s revenue comes from search. And though the company has their own AI bot, all these new disruptors are likely to have an effect.
Learn More on the Voronoi App 
All the billions of searches that Google runs on its servers makes for some really big data centers. And they need cooling. Check out: Google’s Thirstiest Data Centers to see how much water is required.
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