Facts and figures: R&D expenditure

Abstract

Global research and development (R&D) expenditure, which totaled 1.48 trillion PPP dollars in 2013, increased faster than the world economy between 2007 and 2013. Despite facing budget austerity, wealthier countries maintained research funding via the private sector. High-income economies dominated global R&D expenditure, with the USA and China among the top spenders. However, China’s share, primarily focused on experimental development, has been rising. While low and middle-income economies other than China saw a modest increase in their share, Switzerland has the highest per capita R&D expenditure, balancing investment in innovation and basic research. A positive correlation exists between government investment in R&D and the number of researchers. The UNESCO Science Report provided these insights. – AI-generated abstract.