5 Smartest Countries In the World

2. Hong Kong

Total number of patents issued in 2021: 14,662

Growth in patents granted in 2021: 91.46%

Number of patents per million in 2021: 1,977.9

In terms of absolute patents, Hong Kong lags far behind most countries with much higher populations. However, Hong Kong ranked third in terms of number of patents per million people which has led to a high ranking for the nation.