China: Industrial design applications, nonresident, by count

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, China's industrial design applications, nonresident, by count rose 0.5% on 2023 (from 21,982 to 22,096).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +10.7% and a typical year strayed about 14.8% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 70.1% in 1993 and the biggest yearly fall was 40.4% in 1986. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is upward, about 464.85 a year. A straight line explains 75% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 23,545 for 2027. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2022 to 2024 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 415.48, against 1,607 for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2024, China had the 3rd highest value of the 104 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to China in the 2024 ranking

• United States — 1st of 104: 47,905
• United Kingdom — 2nd of 104: 47,582
• Japan — 4th of 104: 12,102
• Canada — 5th of 104: 9,002
• Korea, Rep. — 6th of 104: 8,918

What this measures

Industrial design applications are applications to register an industrial design with a national or regional Intellectual Property (IP) offices and designations received by relevant offices through the Hague System. Non-resident application refers to an application filed with the IP office of or acting on behalf of a state or jurisdiction in which the first-named applicant in the application is not domiciled. Design count is used to render application data for industrial applications across offices comparable, as some offices follow a single-class/single-design filing system while other have a multiple class/design filing system.

Limitations: Data are based on information supplied to World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) by IP offices in annual surveys, supplemented by data in national IP office reports. Data may be missing for some offices or periods.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.

All 40 values

Industrial design applications, nonresident, by count in nearby economies

• Australia — 6,667 (2024)
• Brunei Darussalam — 278 (2024)
• Cambodia — 533 (2024)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 3,458 (2024)
• Indonesia — 2,150 (2024)
• Japan — 12,102 (2024)
• Korea, Rep. — 8,918 (2024)
• Macao SAR, China — 305 (2024)
• Malaysia — 1,623 (2024)
• Mongolia

More infrastructure data for China

• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 1.87 billion (2024)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 131.75 (2024)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 4.91 million (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 26,170 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 619.22 million (2023)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 166.51 million (2024)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 11.73 (2024)
• ICT service exports (BoP, current US$) — US$73.61 billion (2025)
• ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) — 19.14% (2025)
• Industrial design applications, resident, by count

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is China's industrial design applications, nonresident, by count?

22,096 in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1985?

It is up 5,856% from 371 in 1985 (11.05% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 22,096 in 2024 and the lowest 221 in 1986.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator IP.IDS.NRCT, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Statistics Database, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), uri: www.wipo.int/ipstats/, note: The International Bureau of WIPO assumes no responsibility with respect to the transformation of these data. Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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