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Patent Grants (Total) 1980-2022

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Inventions by Country 2024

There are thousands of human inventions across borders, around the world, and through the ages. Countries known for the most inventions include The United States, Japan, South Korea, German, and Taiwan.

Inventions by Country for Countries with Most Inventions

Invention rarely happens in a single burst of insight. It’s usually a steady incremental process guided by intuition, research, and thorough work.

Country
Patent Grants (Total) 1980-2022
Japan7,561,395
United States6,184,653
China4,570,636
South Korea2,381,994
Germany2,283,121
Russia1,529,886
France1,114,128
United Kingdom606,871
Switzerland467,941
Netherlands408,278

The United States

The U.S. is the hub of all innovative inventions. Most new technology was invented in America -- from personal computers, lasers, mobile phones, video games, photocopiers, and even the internet.

Other inventions from the U.S. include hearing aid, micro-ovens, steamboats, submarines, refrigerators, telegraphs, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, cash registers, electric cookers, electronic TV, credit cards, air conditioners, and much more.

Japan

Out of total global inventions, Japan has achieved 15.85% innovations. Japanese have invented numerous electronic gadgets, such as compact disks, DVD, CD-ROM, B.D., Battery(lithium-ion), dry cell Battery, MiniDisk, Optical Fiber, Light Emitting Diode, and White L.E.D.

South Korea

South Korea has brought a lot of innovations in fields such as agriculture, technology, and astrology. They invented soybean cultivation, water gauge, heated greenhouse, pluviometer, Homi, refrigeration, underfloor heating, Korean pagoda, star charts, astronomical observatory, Internet café, table computer, M.P. man, and I.P.S. panel, etc.

Germany

German inventors have discovered many inventions, from household items to medical devices. Among their inventions are contact lenses, Bayer aspirin, accordion, automobile, bacteriology, gummy bears, Christmas tree, jeans, printing press, newspaper, pocket watch, motorcycle, automated calculator, parachute, x-rays, and coffee filters, among others.

Taiwan

Besides their popular inventions like the electrical gadgets including floating gate transistor, woodball, xiaoluren, integrated laptop projector, and connect 6, Taiwan inventors have discovered great food products like bubble tea, instant noodles, bubble tea, and a plastic cup.

China

Some famous inventions are paper making, gunpowder, printing, the compass, silk, tea production, alcohol, mechanical clock, earthquake detector, porcelain, bronze, kite, seed drill, toothbrush, paper money, acupuncture, and others.

France

France has produced inventions such as braille software, mayonnaise, pencil sharpeners, pasteurization, stethoscopes, canned food, hot air balloons, hairdryers, pressure cookers, submarines, ambulance services, photography, animation, and helicopters.

United Kingdom

The first programmable computer was invented in the United Kingdom, a discovery which makes the heart of other new inventions. Other inventions from the U.K are postage stamps, fire extinguishers, magazines, alternating current, vaccinations, railway, antiseptic surgery, radio, etc.

Canada

Canada has made 1.70% of inventions out of the total global inventions. Canadians are highly innovative. Their inventions include an electric wheelchair, insulin, light bulb, wonder bra, zipper, Robertson screw, artificial pacemaker, five-pin bowling, etc.

India

India has contributed a lot of inventions from mathematics, astronomy, cartography, and metrology. The most significant invention from India is the “zero,” without which mathematics couldn’t exist.

  • Patents fall into two broad categories: resident and abroad. A resident application is filed when the applicant is located in the country in which the application is filed (for example, a US citizen applying for a US patent). An abroad application is filed when the applicant is located in a different country, such as a US-based company filing an application with the French patent office.
  • Not every country releases patent data for each category. As such, anomalies may occur, such as the number of abroad or resident patents exceeding the total number of patents.
  • Patents are valid globally regardless of where they are granted.
  • If the country that originally issued the patent no longer exists, the patents have been credited to the country's modern successor (USSR to Russia, Czechoslovakia to the Czech Republic, East Germany to Germany).
Country
Patent Grants (Total) 1980-2022
Patent Grants (Resident) 1980-2022
Patent Grants (Abroad) 1980-2022
Patent Grants (Total) 2022
Patent Grants (Total) 2021
Patent Grants (Resident) 2022
Patent Grants (Resident) 2021
Patent Grants (Abroad) 2022
Patent Grants (Abroad) 2021
Japan7,561,3954,870,2782,691,156281,605278,143155,117141,853126,488136,290
United States6,184,6533,650,8302,533,823278,022298,630141,938149,538136,084149,092
China4,570,6364,217,813352,827760,957639,329695,591584,89165,36654,438
South Korea2,381,9941,758,230623,864147,794158,50399,202110,35148,59248,152
Germany2,283,121926,2001,356,92787,66197,34726,48829,34761,1736,800
Russia1,529,8861,480,18449,70220,45619,19215,75815,3424,6983,850
France1,114,128539,120575,00841,97349,14816,14620,37825,82728,770
United Kingdom606,871213,960392,91126,70429,0537,2668,10019,43820,953
Switzerland467,941105,080380,75324,83326,7823,4984,42821,33522,354
Netherlands408,278105,542302,73618,91320,9443,9264,53914,98716,405
Italy382,596201,03623,17621,64723,1689,2409,76312,40713,405
Sweden335,383105,730229,65316,45118,4012,8603,47213,59114,929
Canada290,37769,530220,84714,56213,6121,9782,27212,58411,340
Finland173,33054,203119,1276,8787,5771,4811,7265,3975,851
Austria166,74967,72599,0248,1768,7502,1632,2376,0136,513
Belgium148,29643,798107,0067,5718,1821,6721,8805,8996,302
Spain138,13280,09858,0344,8805,3831,2421,4433,6383,940
India133,80855,07578,73417,04114,6227,7876,3849,2548,238
Denmark115,91025,63090,2806,2036,9441,0611,4145,1425,530
Poland112,841103,1159,7263,4084,5382,4123,4849961,054
Israel109,74417,643102,6578,6669,0321,0031,0067,6638,026
Ukraine91,31285,4906,4538231,240630990193250
Iran76,22575,4378192,1442,7882,0512,7049384
Norway69,38220,63648,7463,7844,0297678053,0173,224
North Korea60,01859,8593363,9073,8891819
Czech Republic56,01145,99610,0221,0991,248392537707711
Romania48,43646,6711,765515537369372146165
Singapore47,1438,64738,4983,6044,0342664313,3383,603
South Africa42,81126,25316,5881,1751,313513565662748
Brazil38,76324,30215,9193,5603,6072,4972,5521,0631,055
Turkey36,02026,9619,3574,2934,1523,4653,377828775
Hungary35,03922,76912,207621626168147453479
Belarus31,75621,23711,2591,073951334343739608
New Zealand30,48912,40818,0811,3221,333107691,2151,264
Luxembourg27,7256,38423,2491,8532,2553234001,5301,855
Kazakhstan24,96821,9054,254988898536565452333
Ireland24,3273,89339,4703,5763,9704365473,1403,423
Greece23,47819,1454,508624652273308351344
Saudi Arabia21,5362,97619,1582,4382,3175503731,8881,944
Mexico18,7419,9418,8001,0321,307507618525689
Hong Kong17,2662,40314,8649622,0301972837651,747
Argentina17,22413,6483,596360502166281194221
Malaysia15,6448,0687,5761,3511,5837761,040575543
Liechtenstein14,9813,29711,684689776168201521575
Australia13,21432,959100,7726,1676,3541,0461,0705,1215,284
Bulgaria12,70810,7571,95125943597192162243
Portugal8,9843,9745,010553837156295397542
Uzbekistan8,3508,0952553742333542032030
Slovenia7,5505,2203,996398290219227179290
Chile6,7263,7013,025615560331253284307
Thailand5,6522,6692,983579626220182359444
Azerbaijan5,5823,1702,412311322111129200193
Cameroon4,9112884,6387145144230672484
Indonesia4,7014,5244641,5707561,5477362320
Slovakia4,4832,4622,02125530692125163181
Moldova4,4103,95546738823257625
Latvia4,1903,1991,12412214475894755
Colombia3,8382,7811,083284360180221104139
Georgia3,8043,64416041613742419
Lithuania3,4642,7077572542039992155111
Armenia3,4542,98047434674263041
Ivory Coast3,3521973,1593744252225352400
Morocco2,8842,3566352312031419990104
Sudan2,8622,8521444
Malta2,7915992,2212812653832243233
Egypt2,7602,04571514812988636066
Barbados2,68996,576363466
Philippines2,6021,3001,3021731677250101117
United Arab Emirates2,557642,622318376113307373
Iceland2,4605231,9371371632045117118
Kyrgyzstan2,4282,000437825051393111
Cuba2,4061,1441,59981137768
Senegal2,3341362,202359119207339112
Iraq2,2572,2413426
Serbia2,2311,3229097610931464563
Sri Lanka2,1832,0051901079877663032
Vietnam2,1721,61955331422715315316174
Mongolia2,1622,130534672426943
Croatia2,1458591,2861036719108457
Monaco2,0136381,37566939205773
Estonia1,8755611,3141331222220111102
Venezuela1,8721,762552155109
Cyprus1,5002022,90820321182234
Syria1,2491,214656152595121
Uruguay1,2013241,1357941
Pakistan934703235436324461917
Peru934670265554832212327
Mali90852857881575983148
Tunisia874830210141314
Bahamas852151,4482921
Algeria840782621251041189975
Panama7511458012241118
Burkina Faso749447076885456480
Jordan74430144431349102224
Benin74343702119687411264
Niger68940653881215783114
Bangladesh568542116423
Republic of the Congo546555163517021033160
Mauritius5221167441534153
Macau51665123613736137
Costa Rica514139375376013660
Togo487284595185354880
North Macedonia4564354541452544161
Kenya434174260426020142246
Gabon41124396351192733112
Lebanon3993273401746
Chad3802236851348
San Marino350126378363213102322
Tajikistan31414728280561077049
Seychelles28846501725111624
Zimbabwe286273260423392
Guinea280132703451233248
Guatemala2792186246226
Zambia26768199131419
Qatar2672744661351344831
Dominican Republic2561859115138875
Trinidad and Tobago2421441171313
Haiti2352352
Turkmenistan23123152
Bosnia and Herzegovina220166483315
Ecuador192122113157967
Central African Republic177101701717111616
Equatorial Guinea175175
Mauritania170101633417213216
Jamaica16277116461234
Montenegro14513223116746
Honduras130126611
Madagascar1231091411
Belize11817412131213
Samoa1054265332533
Yemen10444615115
El Salvador101813162152
Namibia966853251783
Oman95811668365
Andorra837201181841814
Mozambique818141
DR Congo76738
Burundi7428631
Bolivia69622233312
Eswatini651,851656
Albania553822574215
Bahrain524128151111411
Brunei52151213828
Paraguay5011651121
Rwanda413933838
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines321592
Ethiopia311221661
Guyana313132121
Nepal282618272
Tanzania26531616
Malawi24224
Nicaragua181681
Guinea Bissau1711617116
Botswana162254
Liberia1515111
Ghana14132921
Cambodia1114553
Comoros1111
Nigeria10108642
Lesotho8812
Uganda5482
Laos57442
Sao Tome and Principe46
Dominica417
Papua New Guinea341111
Fiji2291
Bhutan221
Somalia11
Djibouti1211
Myanmar82
Afghanistan4341
Angola7
South Sudan1
Sierra Leone9
Libya51
Kuwait8012826
Eritrea4
Suriname6
Cape Verde3
Maldives2
Vanuatu303
Curacao148352235
Saint Lucia42
Kiribati43
Grenada5
Tonga35
Antigua and Barbuda2466211262
Saint Kitts and Nevis98129
Sint Maarten412
Marshall Islands4443
Palau13
Cook Islands271
Nauru1
showing: 193 rows

Which country has the most inventions?

The United States is the top most inventive country in the world.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources