Italy vs South Africa: Patents - technology diffusion

Italy
6,517 Patents
in 2023
South Africa
4,592 Patents
in 2023
Italy rank
12th
South Africa rank
13th

Patents - technology diffusion over time

  • Italy
  • South Africa
02.0k4.0k6.0k8.0k10.0k199020062023

How they compare

Italy currently reports 6,517 Patents against 4,592 Patents in South Africa, a difference of 1,925 Patents.

That makes Italy's figure about 1.4 times South Africa's.

The two have swapped places 6 times across 34 shared years of data; in 1990 it was Italy ahead.

Italy ranks 12th and South Africa ranks 13th of 104 countries.

Italy has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Italy South Africa Difference Ahead
1990s 8,310 Patents 5,813 Patents 2,497 Patents Italy
2000s 6,339 Patents 6,337 Patents 1.5 Patents Italy
2010s 7,948 Patents 6,254 Patents 1,695 Patents Italy
2020s 7,918 Patents 4,957 Patents 2,961 Patents Italy

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher patents - technology diffusion, Italy or South Africa?
Italy, at 6,517 Patents against 4,592 Patents in South Africa as of 2023.
What is the difference in patents - technology diffusion between Italy and South Africa?
1,925 Patents, with Italy ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Italy and South Africa?
34 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2023.
How do Italy and South Africa rank globally for patents - technology diffusion?
Italy ranks 12th and South Africa ranks 13th 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.

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Italy vs South Africa: Patents - technology diffusion. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 20 August 2026, from https://science-tech.statizoid.com/compare/patents-technology-diffusion/italy/south-africa/

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About this data

Indicator
Patents - technology diffusion
Unit
Patents
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
118 places, 3,266 data points, 1990–2023
Last refreshed

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