China vs Japan: Patents - technology diffusion
Patents - technology diffusion over time
- China
- Japan
How they compare
China currently reports 1.77 million Patents against 251,752 Patents in Japan, a difference of 1.52 million Patents.
That makes China's figure about 7.0 times Japan's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 34 shared years of data; in 1990 it was Japan ahead.
China ranks 1st and Japan ranks 3rd of 104 countries.
Across the 4 decades both report, China averaged higher in 2 and Japan in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | Japan | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 28,009 Patents | 371,482 Patents | 343,473 Patents | Japan |
| 2000s | 176,321 Patents | 397,516 Patents | 221,196 Patents | Japan |
| 2010s | 977,251 Patents | 312,548 Patents | 664,704 Patents | China |
| 2020s | 1.69 million Patents | 271,359 Patents | 1.42 million Patents | China |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher patents - technology diffusion, China or Japan?
- China, at 1.77 million Patents against 251,752 Patents in Japan as of 2023.
- What is the difference in patents - technology diffusion between China and Japan?
- 1.52 million Patents, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and Japan?
- 34 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2023.
- How do China and Japan rank globally for patents - technology diffusion?
- China ranks 1st and Japan ranks 3rd of 104 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Patents - technology diffusion. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Patent statistics and indicators are suitable for tracking innovation in environment-related technologies. They allow the assessment of countries' innovation performance as well as the design of governments' environmental and innovation policies. This dataset presents data on patent applications by patent office. For more information on the methodology, click the link below on "Database documentation" Data source(s): OECD, STI Micro-data Lab: Intellectual Property Database, http://oe.cd/ipstats Contact: ENV.Stat@oecd.org Dataset release date: April 16, 2026 Database documentation