China: Industrial design applications, resident, by count

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, China's industrial design applications, resident, by count fell 0.1% on 2023 (from 804,104 to 803,234).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +17.1% and a typical year strayed about 14.3% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 125.3% in 1986 and the biggest yearly fall was 14.9% in 2014. 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 28,222 a year. A straight line explains 92% 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 893,912 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 10,678, against 14,556 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 1st highest value of the 102 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

• Korea, Rep. — 2nd of 102: 51,765
• Türkiye — 3rd of 102: 41,875
• Italy — 4th of 102: 36,754

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. A resident application refers to an application filed with the IP office of, or acting for, the state or jurisdiction in which the first named applicant in the application is resident. 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 others 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, resident, by count in nearby economies

• Australia — 2,882 (2024)
• Cambodia — 29 (2024)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 1,124 (2024)
• Indonesia — 5,776 (2024)
• Japan — 20,675 (2024)
• Korea, Rep. — 51,765 (2024)
• Macao SAR, China — 80 (2024)
• Malaysia — 560 (2024)
• Mongolia — 1,005 (2024)
• New Zealand

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, nonresident, 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, resident, by count?

803,234 in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1985?

It is up 298,500% from 269 in 1985 (22.77% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 804,104 in 2023 and the lowest 269 in 1985.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator IP.IDS.RSCT, 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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