Friday 03 April 2026 5:54 am  |  Updated:  Tuesday 07 April 2026 10:35 am

Declining patent filings show Britain has stopped innovating

By: Ayushma Maharjan

Share

Facebook Share on Facebook X Share on Twitter LinkedIn Share on LinkedIn WhatsApp Share on WhatsApp Email Share on Email

There are lots of ways to measure innovation, but if we go by patent filings, it’s a sorry image for the UK, writes Ayushma Maharjan

Britain’s days as the home of the Industrial Revolution are long gone. But many people still cling to the narrative that we are the home of ideas. It’s okay if we no longer make as much as we used to. We’re still inventing, designing and creating things that can be made elsewhere.

But what if that isn’t actually true? 

There are lots of ways to measure innovation. But on one important metric, patent filings, the picture is deeply worrying.

Britain is still a country of brilliant universities and ideas – between 2000 and 2025, we generated more Nobel Prizes in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects than any other country bar the US. The problem is that fewer and fewer new ideas are being put to commercial use.

News Updates

Stay ahead with our three daily briefings delivering all the key market moves, top business and political stories, and incisive analysis straight to your inbox.

© City A.M.