REVEALED: The share of European female inventors surpasses UK’s

The share of female inventors among applicants for international patents in 2021 has been revealed.

And, whilst many European countries have ranked above the worldwide share of women applicants – which stood at 17 per cent – the UK has stayed behind the global average.

According to Statista, Portugal ranked highest in Europe – achieving the third place in the World Intellectual Property Organisation with 34 per cent.

Portugal was followed by Romania in rank 6 with almost 28 per cent and Spain in rank 10 with almost 26 per cent.

Poland, Turkey and Serbia came next, all with over 20 per cent female inventors.

Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic and France also ranked above the global average.

Below the global average but above the UK were Greece, Hungary, Russia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Cyprus, Estonia and Ireland.

UK ranked 55th out of 75 countries with just under 14 per cent.

Which countries scored below the UK?

Antigua and Barbuda came next after Britain, with 12 per cent. Other non-EU countries also scored below the UK – India only had a 10 per cent share of female inventors, Indonesia nine per cent, and Qatar and Saudi Arabia each had seven per cent.

A number of European countries scored below Britain – Germany and Latvia with almost 12 per cent each, Bulgaria and Norway with 11 per cent and Malta with six per cent.

Only Liechtenstein and Egypt scored lower than Malta, coming last in the top with four, and, respectively, two per cent.

Cry for EU migrants among UK manufacturers

Last month, the UK manufacturing industry issued a cry for EU migrants and warned Brexit will add to Britain’s rising costs.

Make UK, an industry body representing 20,000 manufacturing firms across the country, said Brexit’s effects undermined optimism among its members and the changes it involves amount to a “possible death of the just-in-time supply chain business model”.

Two-thirds of companies worry about delays and red tape this year and admitted that Brexit has moderately or significantly affected their business since the transition period ended last January.

In the 2022 MakeUK/PwC senior executive survey, company leaders said Brexit is one of their biggest concerns – with key issues being a lack of access to EU migrants, additional costs to meet different regulatory aspects and delays at customs.

“It is clear from these figures that Brexit and the global Covid-19 pandemic have had a scarring effect on the mentality of many businesses, which are traumatised by the ongoing delays and disruptions to their supply chains,” the report said.

Another survey of chief financial officers of big companies by Deloitte, showed financial executives thought Brexit would be a big negative aspect for both trade and migration between the UK and the EU.

Andra Maciuca

Andra is a multilingual, award-winning NQJ senior journalist and the UK’s first Romanian representing co-nationals in Britain and reporting on EU citizens for national news. She is interested in UK, EU and Eastern European affairs, EU citizens in the UK, British citizens in the EU, environmental reporting, ethical consumerism and corporate social responsibility. She has contributed articles to VICE, Ethical Consumer and The New European and likes writing poetry, singing, songwriting and playing instruments. She studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield and has a Masters in International Business and Management from the University of Manchester. Follow her on: