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Patent applications to the European Patent Office

Patent applications filed with the European Patent Office, counted by the applicant's country of residence, per million inhabitants.

Unit: Applications per million inhabitants Frequency: Annual Coverage: 37 countries and 1 group 2004 to 2025 Source: Eurostat
Highest in 2025 10,517.1 per million peoplep (provisional) Liechtenstein Lowest in 2025 0.6 per million peoplep (provisional) North Macedonia
European Union, 2025 152.6 per million peopleep (estimated, provisional) Official aggregate published by the source
Countries ranked for 2025 36 Updated by the source on 24 March 2026

36 countries have a value for 2025, the latest period in the data.

Trend over time

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4 selected
Groups and aggregates
Countries
European Union × Germany × France × Spain ×

Applications per million inhabitants. Source: Eurostat. Gaps mean no published value; points are not joined across missing years.

Patent applications to the European Patent Office (applications per million inhabitants), 2004 to 2025
Period European UnionGermanyFranceSpain
2025 152.6 per million peopleep (estimated, provisional) 292.9 per million peoplep (provisional) 158.7 per million peoplep (provisional) 45.9 per million peoplep (provisional)
2024 151.8 per million peopleep (estimated, provisional) 299.7 per million people 160.2 per million peoplep (provisional) 44.9 per million peoplep (provisional)
2023 153.1 per million peopleep (estimated, provisional) 297.3 per million peopleep (estimated, provisional) 159.1 per million peoplep (provisional) 44.0 per million peoplep (provisional)
2022 151.2 per million peoplebep (break in time series, estimated, provisional) 293.7 per million people 161.4 per million peoplep (provisional) 41.3 per million people
2021 152.1 per million peoplebep (break in time series, estimated, provisional) 311.2 per million people 157.6 per million peoplep (provisional) 41.0 per million people
2020 147.6 per million peoplebe (break in time series, estimated) 311.2 per million people 157.0 per million people 37.9 per million people
2019 148.9 per million peoplebe (break in time series, estimated) 322.1 per million people 151.9 per million people 40.0 per million people
2018 148.4 per million peoplee (estimated) 321.6 per million people 155.9 per million people 38.1 per million people
2017 143.6 per million peoplebe (break in time series, estimated) 309.0 per million people 158.7 per million people 35.9 per million people
2016 139.7 per million peoplee (estimated) 302.8 per million people 157.1 per million people 33.9 per million people
2015 141.2 per million peoplebe (break in time series, estimated) 303.7 per million people 161.7 per million people 32.7 per million people
2014 141.5 per million peoplebe (break in time series, estimated) 316.5 per million people 160.1 per million peopleb (break in time series) 31.7 per million people
2013 138.1 per million peoplebe (break in time series, estimated) 328.7 per million people 149.5 per million people 32.3 per million people
2012 136.9 per million peopleb (break in time series) 338.8 per million people 151.3 per million people 33.0 per million people
2011 135.2 per million peopleb (break in time series) 326.4 per million peopleb (break in time series) 147.7 per million people 30.0 per million people
2010 138.7 per million peopleb (break in time series) 334.2 per million people 147.7 per million people 30.7 per million people
2009 129.5 per million people 306.7 per million people 139.1 per million people 27.1 per million people
2008 137.4 per million peopleb (break in time series) 324.8 per million people 141.7 per million people 28.9 per million people
2007 130.6 per million peopleb (break in time series) 306.2 per million people 131.0 per million people 28.4 per million people
2006 126.4 per million people 301.1 per million people 126.9 per million people 24.8 per million people
2005 123.5 per million people 288.5 per million people 127.5 per million people 22.3 per million people
2004 118.8 per million people 279.3 per million people 129.2 per million people 19.7 per million people

Flags: b break in time series; ep estimated, provisional; p provisional; be break in time series, estimated; e estimated; bep break in time series, estimated, provisional . A dash means no value was published.

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In short

  • Among the 36 countries with a value for 2025, the highest is Liechtenstein (10,517.1 per million people) and the lowest North Macedonia (0.6 per million people).
  • Half of the countries are above 58.9 per million people and half below.
  • From 2024 to 2025 the value rose in 18 countries and fell in 18.
  • The figure for the European Union was 152.6 per million people in 2025, against 147.6 per million people in 2020 (+4.9). The source marks a break in the series during this period, so part of the change may come from a change in method.

About this measure

Definition
Patent applications filed with the European Patent Office, counted by the applicant's country of residence, per million inhabitants.
Population covered
Total population
Unit
Applications per million inhabitants
Frequency
Annual
Changes are shown as
Differences in the same unit (per million people)

Source and dates

Original producer
Eurostat
Source
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union
Dataset or series code
pat_ep_tot · dataset details · view at source
Selection
freq=A coop_ptn=APPL unit=P_MHAB
Observation period
2004 to 2025
Provider update
24 March 2026
Retrieved
9 November 2026
Published here
9 November 2026
Licence
Eurostat reuse policy (attribution)
Attribution
Source: Eurostat

All countries in 2025 Every value is for 2025, so the countries are compared at the same point in time.

  1. 1 Liechtenstein 10,517.1 per million peoplep (provisional)
  2. 2 Switzerland 1,095.4 per million peoplep (provisional)
  3. 3 Finland 613.4 per million peoplep (provisional)
  4. 4 Luxembourg 548.4 per million peoplep (provisional)
  5. 5 Sweden 446.2 per million peoplep (provisional)
  6. 6 Denmark 445.9 per million peoplep (provisional)
  7. 7 Netherlands 388.3 per million peoplep (provisional)
  8. 8 Germany 292.9 per million peoplep (provisional)
  9. 9 Austria 245.0 per million peoplep (provisional)
  10. 10 Ireland 216.7 per million peoplep (provisional)
  11. 11 Belgium 214.4 per million peoplep (provisional)
  12. 12 Iceland 195.2 per million peoplep (provisional)
  13. 13 France 158.7 per million peoplep (provisional)
  14. 14 Norway 129.8 per million peoplep (provisional)
  15. 15 Malta 125.4 per million peoplep (provisional)
  16. 16 Italy 80.9 per million peoplep (provisional)
  17. 17 Slovenia 80.3 per million peoplep (provisional)
  18. 18 Estonia 59.9 per million peoplep (provisional)
  19. 19 Cyprus 58.0 per million peoplep (provisional)
  20. 20 Spain 45.9 per million peoplep (provisional)
  21. 21 Portugal 34.2 per million peoplep (provisional)
  22. 22 Lithuania 32.2 per million peoplep (provisional)
  23. 23 Czechia 24.5 per million peoplep (provisional)
  24. 24 Latvia 20.4 per million peoplep (provisional)
  25. 25 Poland 17.0 per million peoplep (provisional)
  26. 26 Hungary 13.5 per million peoplep (provisional)
  27. 27 Greece 11.9 per million peoplep (provisional)
  28. 28 Bulgaria 11.2 per million peoplep (provisional)
  29. 29 Slovakia 10.7 per million peoplep (provisional)
  30. 30 Croatia 10.3 per million peoplep (provisional)
  31. 31 Montenegro 8.0 per million peoplep (provisional)
  32. 32 Türkiye 7.7 per million peoplep (provisional)
  33. 33 Albania 3.4 per million peoplep (provisional)
  34. 34 Romania 2.2 per million peopleep (estimated, provisional)
  35. 35 Serbia 2.0 per million peoplep (provisional)
  36. 36 North Macedonia 0.6 per million peoplep (provisional)
  37. European Union 152.6 per million peopleep (estimated, provisional)
Below the line: groups and aggregates, not ranked. View as map Ranking page with top and bottom ten

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Grey: no value for 2025. Colour groups split countries into roughly equal numbers. Boundaries: Natural Earth.