The private sector owned 14,623 patents at end-2021, up from just 1,045 in 2000, while total patents applied reached a record 4,107 in 2022.

Contains information from "Patents Owned, Applied And Awarded, Annual" accessed on 24 June 2026 from Singapore Department of Statistics (data.gov.

sg (Singapore Department of Statistics)) which is made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0 (https://beta.data.gov.sg/open-data-licence).

from Singapore Singapore's stock of patents has grown dramatically over the past three decades, with the private sector acting as the engine of expansion.

According to annual data from the Department of Statistics, patents owned at year-end climbed from just 204 in 1994 to a peak of 16,430 in 2021, before easing slightly to 14,810 in 2022.

The private sector accounted for the vast bulk of that growth. In 2000, the first year the series was broken down by ownership, private entities held 1,045 patents.

By 2021 that figure had multiplied more than fourteen-fold to 14,623. Even as the total dipped in 2022, private holdings remained above 12,700.

This trajectory is consistent with Singapore's sustained push to position itself as a knowledge-based economy, encouraging corporate research and development through grants, tax incentives, and a robust intellectual-property regime.

The public sector, while far smaller in absolute terms, also expanded. Its owned patents rose from 223 in 2000 to 2,045 in 2022.

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