Patent applications are worldwide patent applications filed through the Patent Cooperation Treaty procedure or with a national patent office.
| 1990 | 2000 | 2005 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Botswana | 8 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | ||||||
| Namibia | 158 | 11 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 12 | |||||||||
| South Africa | 4,943 | 2,400 | 6,001 | 5,562 | 6,589 | 6,836 | 6,657 | 6,750 | 6,608 | 6,506 | 6,816 | 6,258 | 6,347 | 6,146 | 9,156 |
| Eswatini | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 |