China vs Germany: Annual patent applications per million people

China
1,010 applications per million people
in 2021
Germany
478.65 applications per million people
in 2021
China rank
3rd
Germany rank
5th

Annual patent applications per million people over time

  • China
  • Germany
02505007501.0k198020002021

How they compare

China currently reports 1,010 applications per million people against 478.65 applications per million people in Germany, a difference of 531.46 applications per million people.

That makes China's figure about 2.1 times Germany's.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 37 shared years of data; in 1985 it was Germany ahead.

China ranks 3rd and Germany ranks 5th of 135 countries.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Annual patent applications per million people
Unit
applications per million people
Source
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), via World Bank (2026); United Nations Population Division, national statistical offices, and Eurostat, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World i
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
135 places, 3,804 data points, 1980–2021
Last refreshed