R&D spending share of GDP by country, 2023
Gross domestic spending on research and development by business, government, higher education and private non-profit organisations, as a percentage of GDP.
84 places ranked for 2023. Highest: Israel (6.35%). Lowest: Guatemala (0.01%). The median is 0.81%.
Highest 10
- 1. Israel 6.35%
- 2. Liechtenstein 6.01%
- 3. South Korea 4.94%
- 4. Sweden 3.60%
- 5. United States 3.45%
- 6. Japan 3.44%
- 7. Belgium 3.27%
- 8. Austria 3.26%
- 9. Switzerland 3.22%
- 10. Germany 3.15%
Lowest 10
- 84. Guatemala 0.01%
- 83. Myanmar 0.02%
- 82. Kyrgyzstan 0.05%
- 81. Turkmenistan 0.09%
- 80. Lesotho 0.09%
- 79. Kuwait 0.10%
- 78. Burkina Faso 0.10%
- 77. El Salvador 0.10%
- 76. Bhutan 0.11%
- 75. Uzbekistan 0.11%
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The chart shows the 40 highest values; the table lists all 84. Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators.
In short
- Among the 84 countries with a value for 2023, the highest is Israel (6.35%) and the lowest Guatemala (0.01%).
- Half of the countries are above 0.81% and half below.
- From 2022 to 2023 the value rose in 34 countries and fell in 13.
- The figure for the world was 2.60% in 2023, against 2.22% in 2018 (+0.38 percentage points).
Full ranking
| # | Country | Value | Period | Relative size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Israel | 6.35% | 2023 | |
| 2 | Liechtenstein | 6.01% | 2023 | |
| 3 | South Korea | 4.94% | 2023 | |
| 4 | Sweden | 3.60% | 2023 | |
| 5 | United States | 3.45% | 2023 | |
| 6 | Japan | 3.44% | 2023 | |
| 7 | Belgium | 3.27% | 2023 | |
| 8 | Austria | 3.26% | 2023 | |
| 9 | Switzerland | 3.22% | 2023 | |
| 10 | Germany | 3.15% | 2023 | |
| 11 | Finland | 3.09% | 2023 | |
| 12 | Denmark | 3.05% | 2023 | |
| 13 | United Kingdom | 2.68% | 2023 | |
| 14 | Iceland | 2.64% | 2023 | |
| 15 | China | 2.58% | 2023 | |
| 16 | Netherlands | 2.27% | 2023 | |
| 17 | France | 2.18% | 2023 | |
| 18 | Slovenia | 2.13% | 2023 | |
| 19 | Norway | 1.85% | 2023 | |
| 20 | Estonia | 1.84% | 2023 | |
| 21 | Czechia | 1.83% | 2023 | |
| 22 | Canada | 1.81% | 2023 | |
| 23 | Portugal | 1.69% | 2023 | |
| 24 | Ireland | 1.59% | 2023 | |
| 25 | Poland | 1.56% | 2023 | |
| 26 | New Zealand | 1.55% | 2023 | |
| 27 | Greece | 1.49% | 2023 | |
| 28 | Spain | 1.49% | 2023 | |
| 29 | Türkiye | 1.42% | 2023 | |
| 30 | Croatia | 1.39% | 2023 | |
| 31 | Italy | 1.38% | 2023 | |
| 32 | Hungary | 1.38% | 2023 | |
| 33 | Brazil | 1.19% | 2023 | |
| 34 | Hong Kong SAR, China | 1.11% | 2023 | |
| 35 | Luxembourg | 1.07% | 2023 | |
| 36 | Lithuania | 1.05% | 2023 | |
| 37 | Slovakia | 1.03% | 2023 | |
| 38 | Egypt | 1.03% | 2023 | |
| 39 | Thailand | 0.94% | 2023 | |
| 40 | Russia | 0.94% | 2023 | |
| 41 | Serbia | 0.88% | 2023 | |
| 42 | Latvia | 0.82% | 2023 | |
| 43 | Kenya | 0.80% | 2023 | |
| 44 | Bulgaria | 0.79% | 2023 | |
| 45 | Rwanda | 0.78% | 2023 | |
| 46 | Uruguay | 0.70% | 2023 | |
| 47 | Cyprus | 0.68% | 2023 | |
| 48 | Malta | 0.65% | 2023 | |
| 49 | Argentina | 0.60% | 2023 | |
| 50 | Belarus | 0.57% | 2023 | |
| 51 | Romania | 0.52% | 2023 | |
| 52 | Saudi Arabia | 0.49% | 2023 | |
| 53 | Uganda | 0.44% | 2023 | |
| 54 | Viet Nam | 0.41% | 2023 | |
| 55 | Cuba | 0.39% | 2023 | |
| 56 | Algeria | 0.38% | 2023 | |
| 57 | Oman | 0.38% | 2023 | |
| 58 | North Macedonia | 0.37% | 2023 | |
| 59 | Costa Rica | 0.34% | 2023 | |
| 60 | Ukraine | 0.32% | 2023 | |
| 61 | Macao SAR, China | 0.27% | 2023 | |
| 62 | Mexico | 0.27% | 2023 | |
| 63 | Georgia | 0.25% | 2023 | |
| 64 | Mauritius | 0.24% | 2023 | |
| 65 | Moldova | 0.22% | 2023 | |
| 66 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0.19% | 2023 | |
| 67 | Armenia | 0.18% | 2023 | |
| 68 | Azerbaijan | 0.18% | 2023 | |
| 69 | Peru | 0.18% | 2023 | |
| 70 | Pakistan | 0.16% | 2023 | |
| 71 | Panama | 0.16% | 2023 | |
| 72 | Mali | 0.15% | 2023 | |
| 73 | Kazakhstan | 0.14% | 2023 | |
| 74 | Paraguay | 0.14% | 2023 | |
| 75 | Uzbekistan | 0.11% | 2023 | |
| 76 | Bhutan | 0.11% | 2023 | |
| 77 | El Salvador | 0.10% | 2023 | |
| 78 | Burkina Faso | 0.10% | 2023 | |
| 79 | Kuwait | 0.10% | 2023 | |
| 80 | Lesotho | 0.09% | 2023 | |
| 81 | Turkmenistan | 0.09% | 2023 | |
| 82 | Kyrgyzstan | 0.05% | 2023 | |
| 83 | Myanmar | 0.02% | 2023 | |
| 84 | Guatemala | 0.01% | 2023 |
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 2023, the latest period that most countries have, so all values are for the same point in time. Countries without a value for 2023 are left out. Groups and aggregates such as the European Union are not ranked. Values are as published by World Bank; 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