Did you know Which Countries Are Allocating the Highest Percentage of GDP to Research and Development Investment?
Data from the OECD highlights
the countries making the largest investments in research and
development (R&D). Asian countries lead with 46%, followed by North
America at 29% and Europe at 21%. $2.8 trillion was spent on R&D in
2023 by different countries globally. According to the data, 6.3% of GDP
was invested in research and development by Israel, which is the most
by any country. Not only this, Israel also has the highest number of
high-tech startups per capita. 92% of the investment in R&D in
Israel came from the private sector, and they made about $28.3 billion.
Israel
was followed by South Korea, which invested 5% of its GDP on research
and development, followed by Taiwan with 4% of its investments going
towards R&D. This amounts to $59.9 billion made for research and
development in Taiwan in 2023, and is an 8.8% increase from the past
five years. Other countries in the top ten which invested the most in
research and development in 2023 were Sweden (3.6% of GDP) and the US
(3.4% of GDP).
Even
though the US is the fifth country with the largest share of its GDP
spent on research and development, it amounts to $823.4 billion, which is the highest in the world.
China’s R&D investment has increased a lot since 2000, as it just
touched the $723 billion figure which is the second highest all over the
world.
| Country | Research and Development Spending as a Percentage of Gross Domestic Product |
|---|---|
| Israel | 6.3% |
| South Korea | 5.0% |
| Taiwan | 4.0% |
| Sweden | 3.6% |
| United States | 3.4% |
| Japan | 3.4% |
| Belgium | 3.3% |
| Switzerland | 3.3% |
| Austria | 3.3% |
| Germany | 3.1% |
| Finland | 3.1% |
| Denmark | 3.0% |
| United Kingdom | 2.8% |
| Iceland | 2.7% |
| China | 2.6% |
| Netherlands | 2.2% |
| France | 2.2% |
| Slovenia | 2.1% |
| Norway | 1.9% |
| Singapore | 1.8% |
| Estonia | 1.8% |
| Czechia | 1.8% |
| Canada | 1.8% |
| Portugal | 1.7% |
| Australia | 1.7% |
| Ireland | 1.6% |
| Poland | 1.6% |
| Spain | 1.5% |
| Greece | 1.5% |
| New Zealand | 1.5% |
| Türkiye | 1.4% |
| Croatia | 1.4% |
| Hungary | 1.4% |
| Italy | 1.3% |
| Lithuania | 1.0% |
| Slovak Republic | 1.0% |
| Luxembourg | 1.0% |
| Latvia | 0.8% |
| Bulgaria | 0.8% |
| South Africa | 0.6% |
| Argentina | 0.6% |
| Romania | 0.5% |
| Chile | 0.4% |
| Colombia | 0.3% |
| Costa Rica | 0.3% |