Intellectual Property Payments by Country 2023
Key Findings
About This Dataset
Intellectual Property Payments by Country 2023Ireland leads with $153.2 billion in intellectual property payments, almost triple second-placed United States on $52.6 billion, an extraordinary figure for a country of just five million people. Read against the receipts data it becomes stark: Ireland pays $153.2 billion for intellectual property but earns only $16.5 billion, a deficit of roughly $137 billion that reflects multinational corporations routing IP licensing through Irish subsidiaries rather than genuine domestic demand. The United States present the mirror image, earning $148.2 billion while paying $52.6 billion, a surplus of nearly $96 billion. China's $42.7 billion in payments against $10.9 billion in receipts shows a country still buying far more technology than it licenses out.
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart
Methodology & source
- Data source
- World Bank (IMF Balance of Payments)
- Coverage
- 10 entities · 2023 · 10 observations
- Measure
- Charges for the Use of Intellectual Property, Payments (US$)
- Last updated
- 15 July 2026
- Compiled by
- The ANYSTAT team, from the source above
- Values use the measure and unit named on this page. Consult the dataset description and cited source for coverage, definitions and any unit conversions. Displayed values may be rounded for readability.
- Entities are ranked highest-first on their value in 2023.
Data Sources & References
All external sources cited in this dataset
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