Austria once again among the top nations regarding patent applications
Austria was once again among the top nations with respect to patent applications, also in 2020, the year of the coronavirus. In the global ranking, Austria placed 11th in relation to its population, and maintained its 6th place ranking in the EU.
Since the year 2000, the number of Austrian patent applications has more than doubled. Austria performs particularly well in the field of environmental technologies. In the Greentech sector, for example building technologies, climate-friendly transport technologies, wastewater purification and recycling, the country is significantly better than the EU average. The number of patents for renewable energies is increasing from year to year in contrast to the decline in patent application for fossil energies.
On balance, a total of 2,737 inventions were registered in 2020, an increase compared to the figure of 2,724 in the year 2019. Every second invention registered ends up as a patent. This means that more than 1,000 real world-first innovations originated in Austria.
