R&D spending share of GDP by country, 2024
Gross domestic expenditure on research and development by businesses, government, higher education and private non-profit organisations, as a percentage of GDP.
35 places ranked for 2024. Highest: South Korea (5.13%). Lowest: Montenegro (0.29%). The median is 1.59%.
Highest 10
- 1. South Korea 5.13%
- 2. Sweden 3.53%
- 3. Japan 3.48%
- 4. United States 3.44%de (definition differs (see metadata), estimated)
- 5. Austria 3.34%e (estimated)
- 6. Belgium 3.25%e (estimated)
- 7. Finland 3.22%
- 8. Denmark 3.15%
- 9. Germany 3.12%
- 10. Iceland 2.47%
Lowest 10
- 35. Montenegro 0.29%
- 34. Romania 0.46%
- 33. Malta 0.61%
- 32. Cyprus 0.64%
- 31. Bulgaria 0.77%
- 30. Serbia 0.93%
- 29. Latvia 0.94%
- 28. Slovakia 0.98%
- 27. Luxembourg 1.04%
- 26. Lithuania 1.12%
The chart loads when you scroll to it.
Source: Eurostat.
In short
- Among the 35 countries with a value for 2024, the highest is South Korea (5.13%) and the lowest Montenegro (0.29%).
- Half of the countries are above 1.59% and half below.
- From 2023 to 2024 the value rose in 6 countries and fell in 1.
- The figure for the European Union was 2.26% in 2024, against 2.21% in 2019 (+0.05 percentage points).
Full ranking
| # | Country | Value | Period | Relative size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Korea | 5.13% | 2024 | |
| 2 | Sweden | 3.53% | 2024 | |
| 3 | Japan | 3.48% | 2024 | |
| 4 | United States | 3.44%de (definition differs (see metadata), estimated) | 2024 | |
| 5 | Austria | 3.34%e (estimated) | 2024 | |
| 6 | Belgium | 3.25%e (estimated) | 2024 | |
| 7 | Finland | 3.22% | 2024 | |
| 8 | Denmark | 3.15% | 2024 | |
| 9 | Germany | 3.12% | 2024 | |
| 10 | Iceland | 2.47% | 2024 | |
| 11 | Netherlands | 2.37% | 2024 | |
| 12 | France | 2.18% | 2024 | |
| 13 | Slovenia | 2.14% | 2024 | |
| 14 | Estonia | 1.98% | 2024 | |
| 15 | Czechia | 1.82% | 2024 | |
| 16 | Norway | 1.75% | 2024 | |
| 17 | Portugal | 1.73% | 2024 | |
| 18 | Ireland | 1.59% | 2024 | |
| 19 | Greece | 1.53% | 2024 | |
| 20 | Spain | 1.50% | 2024 | |
| 21 | Türkiye | 1.46% | 2024 | |
| 22 | Croatia | 1.41% | 2024 | |
| 23 | Italy | 1.41% | 2024 | |
| 24 | Poland | 1.40% | 2024 | |
| 25 | Hungary | 1.31%d (definition differs (see metadata)) | 2024 | |
| 26 | Lithuania | 1.12% | 2024 | |
| 27 | Luxembourg | 1.04% | 2024 | |
| 28 | Slovakia | 0.98% | 2024 | |
| 29 | Latvia | 0.94% | 2024 | |
| 30 | Serbia | 0.93% | 2024 | |
| 31 | Bulgaria | 0.77% | 2024 | |
| 32 | Cyprus | 0.64% | 2024 | |
| 33 | Malta | 0.61% | 2024 | |
| 34 | Romania | 0.46% | 2024 | |
| 35 | Montenegro | 0.29% | 2024 |
Places are ordered from the highest to the lowest value. Group medians on this site are the middle value of the members with data for the same year; they are not official aggregates.
How this ranking works
Every country is ranked on its value for 2024, the latest period that most countries have, so all values are for the same point in time. Countries without a value for 2024 are left out. Groups and aggregates such as the European Union are not ranked. Values are as published by Eurostat; the ranking is a plain ordering from the highest to the lowest value and says nothing about whether a high value is good or bad.
Earlier years: use the year selector above. Methodology · Coverage and freshness
Related
- Research and development expenditure (Eurostat): trend, map and all years
- South Korea and Sweden side by side on every measure
- R&D spending and patent applications in Europe (scatter plot)
- Rankings within a group: European Union (27 countries) · Euro area (21 countries) · OECD (38 countries) · G20 countries