- Britain prides itself on being a world leader in science, research and innovation. But that reputation is increasingly hollow
- New research published today by the Centre for Policy Studies shows that the average number of patents filed with the UK Intellectual Property Office has fallen from 29,000 a year in the 1990s to 21,000 a year in the post-2010 period
- Britain is the only G7 economy where patent filings by domestic inventors are below 1980s levels
- Foreign inventors are also turning their backs, with 61% fewer patents filed in Britain than in 1980 – a sign we are no longer seen as a key market to protect innovation
- Alarmingly, this comes despite our spending record amounts on R&D. Funding has risen to 2.8% of GDP, above countries such as China, France and Singapore, and has been growing more rapidly than in the US, Germany or Japan
- Rather than spending more, we need to copy our top-performing rivals by rebalancing innovation towards the private sector, and ensuring that businesses see Britain as a competitive place to build, test and scale
A sharp decline in the number of patents registered in the UK shows the nation’s shrinking weight in the global innovation economy.
New research from the Centre for Policy Studies, based on UK and global patent filings, shows that despite world-class universities and a strong science base, Britain produces fewer patents per person than most major economies, including France, Germany, Sweden and the United States. The UK has also fallen out of the world’s top five in the Global Innovation Index for the first time in over a decade.
More concerning still, innovation in Britain is declining at the same time as it is accelerating in other global markets. ‘Patently Absurd’ by researcher Ayushma Maharjan highlights the fact that between 2000 and 2024, there has been a 50% decline in resident patent filings in Britain, compared to huge increases in Singapore (268%), South Korea (169%), and the United States (66%).
The report also shows that while the UK is spending above-average amounts on R&D, and has been increasing funding rapidly in recent years, the country has not been able to translate that into patentable ideas. Singapore, China, and France all produce more patent applications per million people despite lower or comparable spending levels. This is partly because R&D in the UK is atypically concentrated in universities, with businesses spending $3 on R&D for every $1 spent in universities, compared to $7 in the US and Japan or $9 in China and South Korea.
The report argues that the key to turning this situation around is not more spending on R&D, or more industrial strategies and innovation plans, but for Britain to address the fundamental problems with its competitive position in terms of tax, infrastructure and ease of doing business.
Report author Ayushma Maharjan said:
‘Britain has long considered itself an intellectual power on the global stage.
‘As the home of the Industrial Revolution and to many of the world’s leading universities, this is in some senses understandable. But as our report reveals, this perception no longer aligns with reality. Entrepreneurs and businesses no longer see Britain as key to protecting their innovations.
‘Politicians’ warm words are being undermined by the wider business environment. Without a competitive tax regime, a reformed planning system, and better linkage between our ideas output and commercial business, high-growth businesses will continue to focus their energy and their investment outside of the UK.’
Commenting on the report, Sam Bowman, Founding Editor of Works in Progress, said:
‘We focus way too much on how much we spend on R&D instead of what we get for our money which is, as this report highlights, depressingly little. There’s no point in spending more on laboratory research if nobody can build more lab space, and no point in trying to invest in Oxford and Cambridge if nobody can move there.
‘Fixing the fundamentals of labour, land use and energy supply is by far the best innovation policy available to us, and doing so doesn’t need to cost taxpayers a penny.’
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
- Ayushma Maharjan is a Researcher at the Centre for Policy Studies
- ‘Patently Absurd’ is available under embargo here
- For more information or media requests, please contact Emma Revell on 07931 698246 or emma@cps.org.uk or Melisa Tourt on 07399 251110 or melisa@cps.org.uk
- The Centre for Policy Studies is one of the oldest and most influential think tanks in Westminster. With a focus on taxation, economic growth, housing, immigration, and energy abundance, its goal is to develop policies that widen enterprise, ownership and opportunity.
Date Added: Thursday 2nd April 2026
