In 2005 the EU27 spent just over 200 billion euro on Research & Development (R&D). R&D intensity (i.e. expenditure as a percentage of GDP) in the EU27 stood at 1.84%, the same as in 2004. R&D intensity remained significantly lower in the EU27 than in other major economies. In 2004, R&D expenditure was 2.68% of GDP in the United States, 3.18% in Japan, while it has reached 1.34% in China in 2005. R&D expenditure3 in the EU27 rose by 1.5% in real terms on average per year between 2001 and 2005, compared to 1.7% in the United States and 2.0% in Japan between 2001 and 2004.
In 2004 the business sector financed 55% of total EU27 R&D expenditure, while the corresponding share was 64% in the United States, 75% in Japan and 66% in China.
This information comes from Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.
R&D intensity varies from 0.4% of GDP in Cyprus and Romania to 3.9% in Sweden
In 2005, the highest R&D intensities among the Member States were registered in Sweden (3.86% of GDP) and Finland (3.48%), followed by Germany (2.51%), Denmark (2.44%), Austria (2.36%) and France (2.13%). The lowest intensities were found in Romania (0.39% in 2004), Cyprus (0.40%), Bulgaria (0.50%) and Slovakia (0.51%).
Annual average growth rates of R&D expenditure in real terms over the period 2001 to 2005 ranged from +18% in Latvia, +17% in Estonia, +15% in Cyprus and +11% in Lithuania to -2% in Belgium and Slovenia and -1% in Slovakia.
Largest shares of R&D financed by business sector in Luxembourg, Finland, Germany and Sweden
The business sector finances the highest share of EU27 expenditure on R&D (55%), followed by the government sector (35%) and funding from abroad (8%). Among Member States, Luxembourg (80%) recorded the largest share of R&D expenditure financed by the business sector in 2004, followed by Finland (69%), Germany (67%), Sweden (65%), Belgium and Denmark (both 60%). Three Member States registered shares for the business sector of 20% or less: Malta and Cyprus (both 19%) and Lithuania (20%).