Countries by Domestic Patents

What Patent Applications (Residents) Measures

Patent Applications (Residents) is a comparative indicator tracked across countries by the World Bank. It provides a quantitative basis for cross-national comparison, enabling researchers and policymakers to benchmark national performance on this dimension against global peers.

Why This Ranking Matters

Examining Patent Applications (Residents) across all countries reveals patterns that might not be obvious at the national level. Regional clusters, outlier nations, and historical trajectories all become clearer when the full global picture is assembled in a single ranking.

Global Range

Values range from 1.00 (Samoa) to 1.43 million (China) — a 1.43 million-fold difference across 124 countries.

Regional Patterns

European countries lead with 9 entries in the top 20, though representation spans multiple continents. Regional factors clearly play a role, but outliers from other parts of the world show that national policy and geography matter as much as continental trends.

The distribution is highly right-skewed — a few countries have exceptionally high values that pull the average well above the median. The median (146) is far more representative than the mean (18.5K).

Notable Outliers

China stands far above the rest, with a value 444% higher than second-place United States. This extraordinary lead suggests unique national circumstances — geographic scale, resource endowment, or policy choices — that set it apart from even its closest competitors.

Continental Leaders

Asia

China

1.43 million

North America

United States

262.2K

Europe

Germany

39.8K

South America

Brazil

4.7K

Oceania

Australia

3.0K

Africa

South Africa

1.8K