Japan vs United States: Patents - technology diffusion
Patents - technology diffusion over time
- Japan
- United States
How they compare
United States currently reports 370,325 Patents against 251,752 Patents in Japan, a difference of 118,573 Patents.
That makes United States's figure about 1.5 times Japan's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 34 shared years of data; in 1990 it was Japan ahead.
Japan ranks 3rd and United States ranks 2nd of 104 countries.
Across the 4 decades both report, Japan averaged higher in 2 and United States in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Japan | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 371,482 Patents | 166,536 Patents | 204,946 Patents | Japan |
| 2000s | 397,516 Patents | 338,783 Patents | 58,734 Patents | Japan |
| 2010s | 312,548 Patents | 406,901 Patents | 94,353 Patents | United States |
| 2020s | 271,359 Patents | 420,060 Patents | 148,700 Patents | United States |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher patents - technology diffusion, Japan or United States?
- United States, at 370,325 Patents against 251,752 Patents in Japan as of 2023.
- What is the difference in patents - technology diffusion between Japan and United States?
- 118,573 Patents, with United States ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Japan and United States?
- 34 years are reported by both, from 1990 to 2023.
- How do Japan and United States rank globally for patents - technology diffusion?
- Japan ranks 3rd 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