Germany Divided

Work & business

Patents

Patent applications at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office per 100,000 inhabitants, by applicant's seat, 2025

Companies and inventors in the former West filed 60 patent applications per 100,000 inhabitants in 2025, 4.6 times the 13 in the East. Baden-Württemberg alone filed 15,161; the five eastern states together filed 1,579 of 42,349 (3.7%).

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Inner-German border 1949–1990 ·16 states · 2025

Former West

60

excl. Berlin

Former East

13

excl. Berlin

Berlin

12

Germany

51

Figures in per 100,000

The East stands at 22% of the West's level (2025).

By state

Former WestFormer EastBerlin
  1. Baden-Württemberg135
  2. Bayern95
  3. Niedersachsen47
  4. Hamburg37
  5. Nordrhein-Westfalen32
  6. Thüringen25
  7. Hessen18
  8. Bremen17
  9. Rheinland-Pfalz16
  10. Sachsen14
  11. Schleswig-Holstein14
  12. Berlin12
  13. Saarland11
  14. Brandenburg9
  15. Sachsen-Anhalt8
  16. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern7

2025

Notes & caveats

  • Applications filed with the DPMA plus international (PCT) applications entering the German national phase, counted at the applicant's seat: a company's patents count where its head office is, not where the research is done.
  • East, West and state rates per 100,000 are our calculation with population on 31.12.2025; they agree with DPMA's own state rates to within 1.
  • Small eastern states vary a lot from year to year (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 58 applications in 2024, 111 in 2025).
Show the table
StateSide2025
Saarlandwest11 per 100,000
Berlinberlin12 per 100,000
Brandenburgeast9 per 100,000
Mecklenburg-Vorpommerneast7 per 100,000
Sachseneast14 per 100,000
Sachsen-Anhalteast8 per 100,000
Thüringeneast25 per 100,000
Schleswig-Holsteinwest14 per 100,000
Hamburgwest37 per 100,000
Niedersachsenwest47 per 100,000
Bremenwest17 per 100,000
Nordrhein-Westfalenwest32 per 100,000
Hessenwest18 per 100,000
Rheinland-Pfalzwest16 per 100,000
Baden-Württembergwest135 per 100,000
Bayernwest95 per 100,000