World Intellectual Property Organization released global intellectual property filing statistics for 2023. Total number of global PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) international patent applications was 272,600, a decrease of 1.8% compared with the previous year.
China has 69,610 applications and is still the country with the largest number of applications. The United States ranks second in the world with 55,678 applications, followed by Japan, South Korea and Germany. China's digital economy has exceeded 50 trillion yuan (6.94 trillion U.S. dollars), accounting for more than 40% of GDP.