'EU states spent over $364B on R&D in 2019'

By Yunus Girgin

ANKARA (AA) – Member states of the European Union spent over €306 billion ($364.7 billion) on research and development (R&D) in 2019, according to data released on Friday.

The R&D expenditure to GDP ratio – known as R&D intensity – was 2.19% in 2019, compared with 2.18% in 2018, according to a report by Eurostat.

“With respect to other major economies, R&D intensity in the EU was much lower than in South Korea (4.52% in 2018), Japan (3.28% in 2018) and the US (2.82% in 2018), while it was at about the same level as in China (2.06% in 2018),” the report said.

The business enterprise sector accounted for 66% of all R&D spending in 2019, followed by the higher education sector at 22%, government sector at 11%, and the private non-profit sector at 1%.

Among EU states, the highest R&D intensity was seen in Sweden at 3.39%, ahead of Austria and Germany at 3.19% and 3.17%, respectively.