Switzerland has taken its place among some of the largest countries on earth in filing the seventh most patents in 2022. Last year saw a record number of innovations registered, with Swiss entrepreneurs, inventors and international companies filing over 9.000 patents with the European Patent Office (EPO).

Over 190.000 patents filed with the EPO in 2022

According to the EPO, reported in SRF, a total of 193.460 new patents were registered with the organisation in 2022 - 2,5 percent more than the previous year. The number of new patents recorded each year by the organisation has reached a record high after slumping slightly during the COVID pandemic.

Switzerland played a significant role in this rise in innovation. In 2022, 9.008 Swiss inventions were patented by domestic businesses, international companies and universities in Switzerland, 5,9 percent more than the previous year.

Switzerland the seventh most innovative country in the world

This makes Switzerland one of the most innovative countries in the world, placing seventh in the overall ranking. When patents per capita is used to rank each nation, the alpine nation was on top by far.

At the top of the overall ranking, like last year, sat the United States with 48.088 patents. Despite a fall in the number of patents in 2022, Germany took second place, while Japan took third. In terms of smaller nations, Switzerland was joined by the Netherlands in eighth and Sweden in 10th.

Switzerland joins China and Korea in reporting strong patent growth

In the top 10, the People's Republic of China (+15,1 percent), South Korea (+10) and Switzerland (+5,9) saw the number of patents filed increase the most compared to last year. Speaking to SRF, EPO President Antonio Campinos said that in 2022, the biggest growth area was in renewable energy - the number of patents filed relating to battery technology, for example, increased by 48 percent compared to 2021.

In terms of individual companies, the Chinese tech giant Huawei filed the most patents with 4.500 new inventions to its name in 2022. The EPO noted that while 73 percent of new inventions originate from large companies, 20 percent come from firms with up to 250 workers, while 7 percent are filed by universities and centres of higher education.

10 most innovative nations in the world in 2022

In all, here are the 10 nations which filed the most patents in 2022:

1. United States (48.088)
2. Germany (24.684)
3. Japan (21.576)
4. People’s Republic of China (19.041)
5. France (10.900)
6. South Korea (10.367)
7. Switzerland (9.008)
8. The Netherlands (6.806)
9. United Kingdom (5.679)
10. Sweden (5.036)

To see how other nations around the world faired, please consult the EPO website.