Germany vs United States: Patents in OECD selected technologies — Patent grants

Germany
5,128 Patents
in 2022
United States
3,509 Patents
in 2022
Germany rank
2nd
United States rank
1st

Patents in OECD selected technologies — Patent grants over time

  • Germany
  • United States
010.0k20.0k30.0k197820002022

How they compare

Germany currently reports 5,128 Patents against 3,509 Patents in United States, a difference of 1,619 Patents.

That makes Germany's figure about 1.5 times United States's.

The two have swapped places 2 times across 45 shared years of data; in 1978 it was Germany ahead.

Germany ranks 2nd and United States ranks 1st of 88 countries.

Across the 6 decades both report, Germany averaged higher in 2 and United States in 4.

Head to head by decade

Decade Germany United States Difference Ahead
1970s 1,739 Patents 1,569 Patents 170.78 Patents Germany
1980s 5,834 Patents 6,304 Patents 470.78 Patents United States
1990s 9,432 Patents 12,059 Patents 2,627 Patents United States
2000s 14,030 Patents 16,064 Patents 2,034 Patents United States
2010s 15,380 Patents 21,564 Patents 6,183 Patents United States
2020s 8,062 Patents 7,721 Patents 341.62 Patents Germany

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher patents in oecd selected technologies — patent grants, Germany or United States?
Germany, at 5,128 Patents against 3,509 Patents in United States as of 2022.
What is the difference in patents in oecd selected technologies — patent grants between Germany and United States?
1,619 Patents, with Germany ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Germany and United States?
45 years are reported by both, from 1978 to 2022.
How do Germany and United States rank globally for patents in oecd selected technologies — patent grants?
Germany ranks 2nd and United States ranks 1st of 88 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Patents in OECD selected technologies — Patent grants. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Germany vs United States: Patents in OECD selected technologies — Patent grants. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 22 August 2026, from https://science-tech.statizoid.com/compare/patents-in-oecd-selected-technologies-patent-grants/germany/united-states-2/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://science-tech.statizoid.com/compare/patents-in-oecd-selected-technologies-patent-grants/germany/united-states-2/">Germany vs United States: Patents in OECD selected technologies — Patent grants</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Patents in OECD selected technologies — Patent grants
Unit
Patents
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
104 places, 4,680 data points, 1978–2022
Last refreshed

Patent counts by technology (including total patents, estimated total patents for latest years): EPO, USPTO, PCT and Patent Families indicators are presented for selected technology domains such as ICT, Artificial Intelligence, nanotechnology, biotechnology as well as environment-related and health-related technologies.