Germany vs Japan: Patents - technology diffusion
Patents - technology diffusion over time
- Germany
- Japan
How they compare
Japan currently reports 251,752 Patents against 52,279 Patents in Germany, a difference of 199,473 Patents.
That makes Japan's figure about 4.8 times Germany's.
Across all 34 years both countries report, Japan has been ahead every year.
Germany ranks 5th and Japan ranks 3rd of 104 countries.
Japan has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Germany | Japan | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 75,084 Patents | 371,482 Patents | 296,398 Patents | Japan |
| 2000s | 77,277 Patents | 397,516 Patents | 320,240 Patents | Japan |
| 2010s | 59,805 Patents | 312,548 Patents | 252,743 Patents | Japan |
| 2020s | 53,613 Patents | 271,359 Patents | 217,746 Patents | Japan |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher patents - technology diffusion, Germany or Japan?
- Japan, at 251,752 Patents against 52,279 Patents in Germany as of 2023.
- What is the difference in patents - technology diffusion between Germany and Japan?
- 199,473 Patents, with Japan ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Germany and Japan?
- 34 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2023.
- How do Germany and Japan rank globally for patents - technology diffusion?
- Germany ranks 5th 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