China (People’s Republic of) vs Korea: Environment-related technologies patents — Patent applications

China (People’s Republic of)
13,210 Patents
in 2023
Korea
10,699 Patents
in 2023
China (People’s Republic of) rank
4th
Korea rank
2nd

Environment-related technologies patents — Patent applications over time

  • China (People’s Republic of)
  • Korea
05.0k10.0k15.0k20.0k197820002023

How they compare

China (People’s Republic of) currently reports 13,210 Patents against 10,699 Patents in Korea, a difference of 2,511 Patents.

That makes China (People’s Republic of)'s figure about 1.2 times Korea's.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 46 shared years of data; in 1978 it was Korea ahead.

China (People’s Republic of) ranks 4th and Korea ranks 2nd of 88 countries.

Across the 6 decades both report, China (People’s Republic of) averaged higher in 2 and Korea in 3.

Head to head by decade

Decade China (People’s Republic of) Korea Difference Ahead
1970s 0 Patents 0 Patents 0 Patents
1980s 11.35 Patents 11.8 Patents 0.45 Patents Korea
1990s 30.78 Patents 400.12 Patents 369.34 Patents Korea
2000s 918.78 Patents 3,472 Patents 2,554 Patents Korea
2010s 7,776 Patents 6,977 Patents 799.11 Patents China (People’s Republic of)
2020s 16,864 Patents 10,503 Patents 6,361 Patents China (People’s Republic of)

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher environment-related technologies patents — patent applications, China (People’s Republic of) or Korea?
China (People’s Republic of), at 13,210 Patents against 10,699 Patents in Korea as of 2023.
What is the difference in environment-related technologies patents — patent applications between China (People’s Republic of) and Korea?
2,511 Patents, with China (People’s Republic of) ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for China (People’s Republic of) and Korea?
46 years are reported by both, from 1978 to 2023.
How do China (People’s Republic of) and Korea rank globally for environment-related technologies patents — patent applications?
China (People’s Republic of) ranks 4th and Korea ranks 2nd of 88 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Environment-related technologies patents — Patent applications. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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China (People’s Republic of) vs Korea: Environment-related technologies patents — Patent applications. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 22 August 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/compare/environment-related-technologies-patents-patent-applications/china/korea/

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About this data

Indicator
Environment-related technologies patents — Patent applications
Unit
Patents
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
104 places, 4,784 data points, 1978–2023
Last refreshed

To identify patents in environment-related technologies (ENV-TECH), detailed search strategies have been developed drawing on more than 200,000 classification symbols. The search strategies encompass a broad spectrum of technologies related to environmental pollution, water scarcity, climate change mitigation.