Ranked: Countries With the Most Patents
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Key Takeaways
- China leads the world with 5.7 million active patents, far ahead of any other country.
- The U.S. (3.5M) and Japan (2.1M) rank second and third, respectively.
- Together, the top three countries hold more patents than the rest of the world combined.
A handful of countries dominate global patent activity, with a steep drop-off after the top ranks. China alone accounts for a massive share, holding millions more active patents than any other country.
This visualization ranks countries by total active patents using the latest available data from the World Intellectual Property Organization for 2024.
China Is Miles Ahead on Active Patents
China leads with 5.7 million active patents, followed by the United States and Japan, and together the top three exceed the rest of the world combined.
| Country | Number of Active Patents |
|---|---|
| China | 5,688,867 |
| United States | 3,519,879 |
| Japan | 2,085,215 |
| South Korea | 1,312,294 |
| Germany | 963,941 |
| France | 757,026 |
| United Kingdom | 744,130 |
| Italy | 382,444 |
| Switzerland | 268,054 |
| The Netherlands | 246,254 |
| Russia | 243,943 |
| India | 228,402 |
| Spain | 217,849 |
| Canada | 201,063 |
| Ireland | 198,100 |
| Belgium | 187,149 |
| Luxembourg | 163,418 |
| Australia | 163,069 |
| Sweden | 152,158 |
| Austria | 134,163 |
| Monaco | 120,437 |
| Poland | 111,782 |
| Mexico | 111,190 |
| Denmark | 109,551 |
| Brazil | 106,827 |
| South Africa | 104,012 |
| Finland | 96,416 |
| Türkiye | 89,401 |
| Indonesia | 84,540 |
| Portugal | 81,509 |
| Hong Kong | 73,249 |
| Norway | 55,349 |
| Czechia | 50,433 |
| Singapore | 49,667 |
| Iran | 44,453 |
| Israel | 41,001 |
| Malaysia | 38,168 |
| Hungary | 35,950 |
| Greece | 27,510 |
| Romania | 27,474 |
| Thailand | 24,635 |
| New Zealand | 23,867 |
| Viet Nam | 23,291 |
| Slovakia | 21,189 |
| Chile | 21,079 |
| Ukraine | 20,445 |
| Slovenia | 18,517 |
| Philippines | 15,463 |
| Saudi Arabia | 14,739 |
| Croatia | 13,431 |
| Bulgaria | 13,311 |
| Argentina | 13,053 |
| Lithuania | 12,414 |
| Estonia | 10,684 |
| Latvia | 10,493 |
| Iceland | 9,501 |
| Serbia | 9,368 |
| Colombia | 9,009 |
| Zambia | 8,562 |
| Malta | 7,385 |
| Algeria | 7,039 |
| Macao | 5,777 |
| North Macedonia | 5,528 |
| Iraq | 5,141 |
| Egypt | 5,107 |
| Morocco | 4,917 |
| United Arab Emirates | 4,587 |
| Peru | 4,539 |
| Ghana | 3,326 |
| Kazakhstan | 2,837 |
| Bangladesh | 2,203 |
| Pakistan | 2,157 |
| Panama | 2,076 |
| Mongolia | 1,656 |
| Costa Rica | 1,462 |
| Belarus | 1,371 |
| Uzbekistan | 1,255 |
| Dominican Republic | 1,194 |
| Uruguay | 1,138 |
| Sri Lanka | 1,007 |
| El Salvador | 918 |
| Georgia | 836 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 830 |
| Syria | 666 |
| Bahrain | 571 |
| Qatar | 569 |
| Jamaica | 451 |
| Honduras | 446 |
| Cuba | 421 |
| Namibia | 415 |
| Azerbaijan | 403 |
| Zimbabwe | 403 |
| Oman | 355 |
| Ethiopia | 322 |
| Paraguay | 257 |
| Moldova | 255 |
| Madagascar | 232 |
| Guatemala | 218 |
| Ecuador | 215 |
| Venezuela | 208 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 186 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 153 |
| Kuwait | 74 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 69 |
| Barbados | 63 |
| Andorra | 48 |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 20 |
| Armenia | 17 |
| Uganda | 17 |
| Cyprus | 10 |
| Bhutan | 6 |
| Myanmar | 4 |
South Korea takes the fourth spot for most active patents, with 1.3 million. It underscores Asia’s strong presence among the world’s leading innovation hubs.
It’s unsurprising to see these countries in the top ranks, given the size of their economies and populations, though South Korea becomes an outlier through this lens.
Germany is the top European country, at 963,941, but active patents dip significantly from there to 757,026 for France.
Myanmar, which brought in its first ever law dedicated to patent protection and innovation in 2024, sits at the bottom of the dataset with four patents. It is only one of two — the other being Bhutan, which has six active patents — to have fewer than 10 active patents.
Most Countries Contribute Little to Global Innovation
Global patent ownership is highly concentrated, with a small number of countries accounting for the majority of innovation output.
While countries like China, the U.S., and Japan dominate the landscape, most nations contribute relatively small numbers of active patents. This gap highlights differences in research capacity, industrial scale, and investment in innovation.
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To learn more about innovation, check out this graphic which ranks top startup hubs.