EU governments increased R&D allocations by 5% in 2023
This information comes from data on government budget allocations for R&D (GBARD) published by Eurostat. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article.
In 2023, government budget allocations for R&D at the EU level stood at €275.6 per person, a 53.3% increase compared with 2013 (€181.0 per person).
The highest allocations were recorded in Luxembourg (€646.6 per person), followed at a distance by Denmark (€552.4) and Germany (€529.3).
On the other hand, EU countries with the lowest R&D budget allocations per person were Romania (€21.2 per person), Bulgaria (€33.1) and Hungary (€48.1).
Source dataset: gba_nabsfin07
Between 2013 and 2023, almost all EU governments increased their budget allocations for R&D in terms of € per person. The largest percentage increases were recorded in Latvia (+291% from €16.0 per person in 2013 to €62.6 in 2023), Poland (+147% from €37.8 to €93.3) and Bulgaria (+133% from €14.2 to €33.1). Hungary was the only EU country to register a decrease (-28% from €66.9 to €48.1).
AdvertisementMore than a third of R&D budget goes to general university funds
The biggest share of the 2023 government budget allocations for R&D, namely 35.5%, was directed to the general advancement of knowledge, primarily financed by a public block grant known as public general university funds (GUF), which many public higher education institutions receive to support all their activities. Additionally, 17.3% of the GBARD was dedicated to the general advancement of knowledge from other sources than GUF, followed by 11.0% for industrial production and technology, 6.9% for health and 6.0% for exploration and exploitation of space.
Source dataset: gba_nabsfin07
For more information
- Statistics Explained article on government budget allocations for R&D (GBARD)
- Thematic section to science, technology and innovation
- Database on government budget allocations
Methodological note
Provisional government budget allocations for R&D are all allocations assigned to R&D in central (federal) government, regional (state) and local (municipal) government. They, therefore, refer to budget provisions, not to actual expenditure, which may differ. Local government budget funds may not be included if their contribution is not significant or if the data cannot be collected.
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