China vs United States: Patents - technology diffusion
Patents - technology diffusion over time
- China
- United States
How they compare
China currently reports 1.77 million Patents against 370,325 Patents in United States, a difference of 1.40 million Patents.
That makes China's figure about 4.8 times United States's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 34 shared years of data; in 1990 it was United States ahead.
China ranks 1st and United States ranks 2nd of 104 countries.
Across the 4 decades both report, China averaged higher in 2 and United States in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 28,009 Patents | 166,536 Patents | 138,526 Patents | United States |
| 2000s | 176,321 Patents | 338,783 Patents | 162,462 Patents | United States |
| 2010s | 977,251 Patents | 406,901 Patents | 570,350 Patents | China |
| 2020s | 1.69 million Patents | 420,060 Patents | 1.27 million Patents | China |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher patents - technology diffusion, China or United States?
- China, at 1.77 million Patents against 370,325 Patents in United States as of 2023.
- What is the difference in patents - technology diffusion between China and United States?
- 1.40 million Patents, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and United States?
- 34 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2023.
- How do China and United States rank globally for patents - technology diffusion?
- China ranks 1st and United States ranks 2nd 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