Increased the expenditure as well as the jobs In the field of Research and Development (R&D) in Greece in 2023, according to detailed data published by the National Center for Documentation and Electronic Content (ECB).

According to the latest figures, in 2023, total R&D spending amounted to € 3.37 billion, while the number of full -time jobs reached 73,263. The index ‘R&D intensity», Which measures the rate of R&D spending on GDP, was kept at 1.49% – same level as 2022. Businesses covered almost half (49.3%) of all costs, and its contribution was significant. Higher Education and his state sector.

In particular, the Attica Region recorded the highest rate of costs and employment in the R&D sector, with the Epirus, Crete, Western Greece and Central Macedonia regions to also mark high returns in the relevant R&D intensity.

In 2023, the total increase in R&D spending was 9.6%, ie +294.82 million euros compared to the previous year. At the same time, the increase in Greek GDP by 8.3% at the same time, kept the R&D index to 1.49% unchanged, placing Greece in 15th among EU-27 countries.

Noteworthy is the rise of staff employed in R&D activities: The number of full-time equivalents (IPA) reached 73,263 for total staff (+12.2%) and 54,679 for research staff (+5.9%), placing the country at 12th in the EU-27.

Timeless reinforcement of R&D spending per sector

The ECB’s statistical survey, which was carried out in 2024, focuses on the four main areas: business (Bes), the Higher Education (Hes), the state sector (Gov) and the Private non -profit institutions (Pnp).

The business sector has maintained a dominant position in the national effort to investigate, at € 1.65 billion (49.3% of the total), continuing the upward trend in recent years. The greatest contribution sectors were “Information & Communication”, “Wholesale and Retail”, “Financial and Insurance” and “professional, scientific and technical activities”. Overall, information & communication expenditure amounted to EUR 395.05 million.

In employment, the business sector represents 22,628 IPA (30.9% of the total), of which 17,001 relate to research staff.

Following is the Higher Education Sector, with costs of EUR 982.55 million (29.2% of the total), which are mainly concerned with basic research (524.85 million) and applied research (371.87 million euros). The scientific fields with the highest expenses are “Medicine and Health Sciences”, “Social Sciences” and “Engineering Sciences & Technology”. The sector employs 33,335 IPA (45.5% of the total), with 27,566 belonging to the research staff.

The state sector recorded costs of 707.86 million (21% of the total), with activities including both basic as well as applied research. The most important scientific fields were “Medicine and Health Sciences”, “Humanities & Arts” and “Engineering Sciences & Technology”. Employment in the state sector amounted to 16,948 IPA (23.1%), with 9,855 for research positions.

Finally, private non -profit institutions had R&D costs of EUR 16.77 million, with 352 IPA (0.5% of the total), of which 256 are in the research staff.

Funding and regional allocation

The main source of funding for 2023 came from state (1.3 billion euros), while the equal were the private investment of business. In addition, EUR 408.68 million came from participation in European competitive programs.

The Attica Region is led by the raising of spending (EUR 1.9 billion) and R&D employment (36,036 IPA, 49.2% of the total). The highest values ​​in the R&D index were recorded in the Regions of Epirus (1.81%), Attica (1.75%), Crete (1.67%), Western Greece (1.55%) and Central Macedonia (1.52%).

The above statistics are produced by the ECB, the competent national authority, and sent to international organizations Eurostat and OECD. They are available electronically in printed versions on metrics.ekt.gr.