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Significant investments in research, software and IP

Study by the World Intellectual Property Organization: public and private spending on intangible assets is on the rise in Germany, too – DPMA President: know-how and IP are crucial for prosperity – It is a good sign that we are among the leading economies

Press release of 8 July 2026

Geneva/Munich. Investment in intangible assets such as research and development, software and IP rights is increasingly important to the German economy. According to a recent study by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the share of such investments in Germany’s GDP last year was 11.7%, thus increasingly outpacing the share of traditional investments in tangible assets such as buildings, machinery and physical infrastructure (2025: 10.4%). Compared with other countries, Germany is one of the economies with leading levels of intangible investment: in 2025, the total investment in intangible assets made by the private and public sectors in Germany amounted to 727.9 billion US dollars (around 640 billion euros). Among the economies considered in the study, intangible investment was only higher in the United States and in Japan. As no data are available, China is not included in the analysis.

“The study impressively shows the great importance of intangible assets in the most successful economies,” Eva Schewior, President of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office, comments on the current figures published by the DPMA’s international partner organisation. “Know-how and IP rights have become more and more crucial for international competitiveness and the global development of prosperity. It is a good sign that Germany is among the economies with leading levels of investment in intangible assets. Nonetheless, investment in tangible assets continues to be of significant importance.”

The report "World Intangible Investment Highlights 2026 – Better Data for Better Business and Policy", co-published by WIPO and the Italian Luiss Business School, analysed 29 high- and middle-income economies, together accounting for more than half of global gross domestic product. The data show that, since 2008, investment in intangible assets has grown three times as fast as investment in tangible assets. Last year, intangible investment amounted to a global volume of more than 10 trillion US dollars (around 8.8 trillion euros). According to the study, the figures suggest a sustainable structural change in the composition of investment: the importance of intangible assets for the creation of value was increasingly outdoing that of tangible assets. In addition, it says that the small growth in tangible investment is currently fuelled solely by investments in AI-related physical infrastructure – in particular, for data centres, semiconductors and the necessary energy systems.

The study shows that, since 2015, intangible investment in Germany has increased, on average, by 4% per year in real terms, tangible investment by only 0.1%. Among seven categories considered, the increase in spending in Germany was strongest with regard to designs, followed by trade marks and investments in software and databases. In absolute figures, Germany makes particularly high investments in research and development. With a share of 30.8% of the total national investment, Germany was far above the international average in this category (20.6%). However, with 8.2% of the total amount, German investments in software and databases were below average (international: 17.6%).

The German Patent and Trade Mark Office

Inventiveness and creativity need effective protection. The DPMA is the German centre of expertise for all intellectual property rights - for patents, utility models, trade marks and registered designs. As the largest national patent office in Europe and the sixth largest national patent office in the world, it is committed to Germany’s future as a country of inventors in a globalised economy. Its almost 2,800 staff based at three locations - Munich, Jena and Berlin - are service providers for inventors and companies. They implement the innovation strategies of the Federal administration and develop national, European and international IP systems further.

Bild: iStock.com/metamorworks

Last updated: 8 July 2026