EKT: Greece among the countries with the greatest progress in research and development from 2011-2021

by

In 2021 the European Union (EU) spent €328 billion on Research and Development (R&D), an increase of 6% compared to the previous year (€310 billion). Compared to 2011, there was an increase of 43.9%.

Greece is among the European Union countries with the largest increase in Research & Development (R&D) intensity during the decade 2011-2021, based on official statistics on R&D spending in EU countries in 2021 published by Eurostat and analyzed by National Documentation and Electronic Content Center (EKT).

Specifically, R&D intensity (R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP) in Greece increased by 0.76 percentage points (pp) between 2011 and 2021. The largest increases in R&D intensity between 2011 and 2021 were recorded in Belgium (+1, 02 am), in Greece (+0.76 am), Poland (+0.69 am), Austria (+0.55 am) and Croatia (+ 0.53 pm).

In 2021 the European Union (EU) spent €328 billion on Research and Development (R&D), an increase of 6% compared to the previous year (€310 billion). Compared to 2011, there was an increase of 43.9%.

In Greece, according to data published by the ECB and sent to Eurostat, R&D expenditure in 2021 was 2,635.23 million euros, up by 141 million euros compared to 2020 (an increase of 5.7%).

In terms of R&D intensity, i.e. R&D spending as a percentage of GDP, the EU figures show a decrease from 2.31% in 2020 to 2.27% in 2021. This decrease is attributed to the recovery of GDP in 2021 after the significant decline that occurred in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Compared to 2019 (2.23%), before the pandemic, R&D intensity increased by 0.04 percentage points (pp) in 2021, while compared to the previous 10 years, it increased by 0.25 a.m.

Based on the ECB’s official data on R&D expenditure and combined with the 9.8% increase in GDP in Greece in 2021, the “R&D Intensity” indicator for Greece was 1.45%, from 1.51 % in 2020. Greece ranks 15th among the 27 EU member states.

Among EU member states, the highest R&D intensity in 2021 was recorded by Sweden (3.35%), followed by Austria (3.22%) and Belgium (3.19%). Six Member States reported R&D spending below 1% of their GDP in 2021: Romania (0.48%), Malta (0.65%), Latvia (0.71%), Bulgaria (0.81%), Cyprus (0.89%) and Slovakia (0.95%) .

Regarding the distribution of R&D expenditure by R&D performing sector in the EU, the business sector continued to account for the largest share of R&D (66.08% of all R&D carried out in 2021), followed by the higher education sector (21 .58%), the government sector (11.89%) and the private non-profit sector (0.44%).

The business sector continues to make the largest contribution to total R&D spending in Greece as well. In more detail, in 2021 R&D expenditure of 1,245.20 million euros (0.69% of GDP) was realized in the business sector, showing an increase of 8.3% compared to 2020.

More specifically, based on ECB data for Greece in 2021, the business sector continued to account for the largest share of R&D (47.3% of total R&D), followed by the higher education sector (30.2%) , the government sector (22%) and the private non-profit sector (0.5%).

RES-EMP

You May Also Like

Recommended for you