{"entity":{"iso2":"ZA","iso3":"ZAF","name":"South Africa","slug":"south-africa"},"indicator":{"licence":"CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)","slug":"patent-applications-per-million","source":"World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), via World Bank (2026); United Nations Population Division, national statistical offices, and Eurostat, via World Bank (2026) \u2013 processed by Our World i","source_url":"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/patent-applications-per-million","title":"Annual patent applications per million people","unit":"applications per million people"},"observations":[{"date":"1980-01-01","value":104.747},{"date":"1981-01-01","value":109.361},{"date":"1982-01-01","value":95.4284},{"date":"1983-01-01","value":129.508},{"date":"1984-01-01","value":114.302},{"date":"1985-01-01","value":115.604},{"date":"1986-01-01","value":130.733},{"date":"1987-01-01","value":131.865},{"date":"1988-01-01","value":125.492},{"date":"1989-01-01","value":129.553},{"date":"1990-01-01","value":26.8245},{"date":"1991-01-01","value":24.5395},{"date":"1992-01-01","value":20.9219},{"date":"1993-01-01","value":20.879},{"date":"1994-01-01","value":21.248},{"date":"1995-01-01","value":19.8242},{"date":"1996-01-01","value":16.7764},{"date":"1997-01-01","value":7.77369},{"date":"1998-01-01","value":4.32677},{"date":"1999-01-01","value":2.95311},{"date":"2000-01-01","value":18.9781},{"date":"2001-01-01","value":20.3083},{"date":"2002-01-01","value":20.4709},{"date":"2003-01-01","value":19.0102},{"date":"2004-01-01","value":19.5136},{"date":"2005-01-01","value":20.2667},{"date":"2006-01-01","value":17.3206},{"date":"2007-01-01","value":18.1086},{"date":"2008-01-01","value":16.8249},{"date":"2009-01-01","value":15.8907},{"date":"2010-01-01","value":15.6847},{"date":"2011-01-01","value":12.3785},{"date":"2012-01-01","value":11.3048},{"date":"2013-01-01","value":11.6681},{"date":"2014-01-01","value":14.4258},{"date":"2015-01-01","value":15.6725},{"date":"2016-01-01","value":12.2949},{"date":"2017-01-01","value":12.6312},{"date":"2018-01-01","value":11.2091},{"date":"2019-01-01","value":9.51536},{"date":"2020-01-01","value":8.94945},{"date":"2021-01-01","value":29.3321}],"summary":{"latest_period":"2021-01-01","latest_value":29.3321,"max":131.865,"mean":40.5814,"min":2.95311,"of":135,"rank":46,"trend":"volatile"}}