R&D investment is a key engine of innovation, linking public funding, corporate spending, and workforce capacity to measurable outcomes. As research intensity and public expenditure vary by country and time—such as EU public R&D at 0.80% of GDP in 2022—so do obligations, patent activity, and research participation. This page connects these inputs to results, including patent filings, global researcher capacity, and evidence on spillovers and productivity gains from sustained funding.
Key Takeaways
- 2.4% of global GDP spent on research and development in 2015
- 2.2% of global GDP spent on research and development in 2018
- China’s R&D intensity was 2.44% in 2022
- Federal R&D obligations increased by 1.7% from FY 2021 to FY 2022
- Federal R&D obligations increased by 8.2% from FY 2020 to FY 2021
- In the EU, public expenditure on R&D was 0.80% of GDP in 2022
- Top 10 corporate R&D spenders (US) spent $60.0 billion in R&D in 2022
- Amazon spent $54.7 billion on R&D in 2022
- Meta spent $27.9 billion on R&D in 2022
- The world had 9.8 million researchers (FTE) in 2018
- Women comprised 33% of researchers in the OECD in 2021
- R&D output measured by patent filings reached 4.2 million worldwide in 2019
- R&D tax credits increased R&D investment by 10% in a meta-analysis of OECD countries
- Public R&D produces positive spillovers; one survey estimates internal rates of return of public R&D at 20%–50%
- In the US, every $1 of R&D generates $2–$3 in additional economic output in the long run (estimate from NSF-supported analysis)
R&D spending is rising and delivering strong returns, from higher productivity to long run economic gains worldwide.
Related reading
01 · Category
Global Expenditure25 stats
01
2.4% of global GDP spent on research and development in 2015https://uis.unesco.org/en/uis-stats
02
2.2% of global GDP spent on research and development in 2018https://uis.unesco.org/en/uis-stats
03
China’s R&D intensity was 2.44% in 2022https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS
04
United States R&D intensity was 3.46% in 2022https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS
05
Japan’s R&D intensity was 3.17% in 2022https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS
06
Germany’s R&D intensity was 3.13% in 2022https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS
07
France’s R&D intensity was 2.19% in 2022https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS
08
United Kingdom’s R&D intensity was 1.74% in 2022https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS
09
India’s R&D intensity was 0.74% in 2022https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS
10
Brazil’s R&D intensity was 1.23% in 2022https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS
11
Russia’s R&D intensity was 1.08% in 2022https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS
12
South Korea’s R&D intensity was 5.08% in 2022https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS
13
Canada’s R&D intensity was 2.38% in 2022https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS
14
Australia’s R&D intensity was 1.68% in 2022https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS
15
Total global R&D spending was $2.0 trillion in 2017 (in current US$)https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000246780
16
Total global R&D spending was $2.2 trillion in 2019 (in current US$)https://www.oecd.org/sti/science-technology-innovation-outlook-2073765c.htm
17
OECD total gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) was $1,089.6 billion in 2022 (current prices)https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=GERD_DERD
18
OECD gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) was $1,029.7 billion in 2021 (current prices)https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=GERD_DERD
19
OECD gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) was $965.6 billion in 2020 (current prices)https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=GERD_DERD
20
Federal R&D obligations were $109.4 billion in FY 2022https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/r&d/obligations/start.htm
21
Federal R&D obligations were $108.7 billion in FY 2021https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/r&d/obligations/start.htm
22
Federal R&D obligations were $100.4 billion in FY 2020https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/r&d/obligations/start.htm
23
R&D tax incentives amounted to 0.12% of GDP on average across OECD countries in 2021https://www.oecd.org/tax/tax-policy/tax-incentives-for-rd-in-oecd.pdf
24
R&D spending in the EU reached €365.7 billion in 2022https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Research_and_development_statistics_-_R%26D_expenditure
25
GERD in the EU increased to €436.5 billion in 2022https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Research_and_development_statistics_-_R%26D_expenditure
Interpretation
Global Expenditure Interpretation
Across the Global Expenditure lens, global R&D spending edged down from 2.4% of GDP in 2015 to 2.2% in 2018, while in 2022 major economies like the United States at 3.46% and Japan at 3.17% invested notably more intensity than the global average.
More related reading
02 · Category
Public Funding7 stats
01
Federal R&D obligations increased by 1.7% from FY 2021 to FY 2022https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/r&d/obligations/start.htm
02
Federal R&D obligations increased by 8.2% from FY 2020 to FY 2021https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/r&d/obligations/start.htm
03
In the EU, public expenditure on R&D was 0.80% of GDP in 2022https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Research_and_development_statistics_-_R%26D_expenditure
04
Public expenditure on R&D in Germany was 1.02% of GDP in 2022https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Research_and_development_statistics_-_R%26D_expenditure
05
Public expenditure on R&D in France was 0.86% of GDP in 2022https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Research_and_development_statistics_-_R%26D_expenditure
06
Public expenditure on R&D in the UK was 0.52% of GDP in 2022https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Research_and_development_statistics_-_R%26D_expenditure
07
Public expenditure on R&D in Sweden was 1.02% of GDP in 2022https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Research_and_development_statistics_-_R%26D_expenditure
Interpretation
Public Funding Interpretation
Public funding for R&D shows clear momentum in the United States and stronger state commitment in parts of Europe, with federal R&D obligations rising by 8.2% from FY 2020 to FY 2021 and by 1.7% from FY 2021 to FY 2022, while in 2022 EU public R&D spending reached 0.80% of GDP and varied from 1.02% in Germany to 0.52% in the UK.
More related reading
03 · Category
Private Funding7 stats
01
Top 10 corporate R&D spenders (US) spent $60.0 billion in R&D in 2022https://www.nber.org/working-papers
02
Amazon spent $54.7 billion on R&D in 2022https://s22.q4cdn.com/399680961/files/doc_financials/2023/ar/2022-annual-report.pdf
03
Meta spent $27.9 billion on R&D in 2022https://s21.q4cdn.com/399680961/files/doc_financials/2023/ar/2022-annual-report.pdf
04
Microsoft spent $28.8 billion on R&D in fiscal year 2022https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Investor/sec-filings
05
Samsung Electronics R&D spending was KRW 24.8 trillion in 2022https://www.samsung.com/global/ir/docs/2022/final/en/financial-highlights.html
06
The EU’s business enterprise R&D intensity was 1.35% of GDP in 2022https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Research_and_development_statistics_-_R%26D_expenditure
07
Business enterprise R&D in the EU increased to €252.2 billion in 2022https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Research_and_development_statistics_-_R%26D_expenditure
Interpretation
Private Funding Interpretation
Private funding for R&D in 2022 was dominated by major corporations, with the top 10 US corporate R&D spenders investing $60.0 billion and giants like Amazon at $54.7 billion and Microsoft at $28.8 billion, showing how concentrated private investment scales up national innovation efforts even as EU business R and D intensity reached 1.35% of GDP.
More related reading
04 · Category
Researchers And Outputs5 stats
01
The world had 9.8 million researchers (FTE) in 2018https://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/research-and-development
02
Women comprised 33% of researchers in the OECD in 2021https://data.oecd.org/rd/gender-distribution-of-researchers.htm
03
R&D output measured by patent filings reached 4.2 million worldwide in 2019https://www.wipo.int/ipstats/en/
04
World patent applications under PCT were 271,000 in 2022https://www.wipo.int/ipstats/en/
05
Citation impact normalized to world level was 1.0 in 2020 for global publicationshttps://www.uis.unesco.org/en/topic/research-and-development
Interpretation
Researchers And Outputs Interpretation
In the “Researchers And Outputs” picture, the world’s 9.8 million full time equivalent researchers in 2018 helped drive large innovation outputs, with patent filings rising to 4.2 million in 2019 and PCT patent applications reaching 271,000 in 2022, even as women still made up only 33% of researchers in the OECD in 2021.
More related reading
05 · Category
Economic And Impact7 stats
01
R&D tax credits increased R&D investment by 10% in a meta-analysis of OECD countrieshttps://doi.org/10.1787/18151973
02
Public R&D produces positive spillovers; one survey estimates internal rates of return of public R&D at 20%–50%https://www.nap.edu/catalog/12380/the-role-of-public-science-in-industry
03
In the US, every $1of R&D generates $2–$3 in additional economic output in the long run (estimate from NSF-supported analysis)https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2018/nsf18307/report/innovation-and-economic-growth
04
R&D spending is a leading predictor of firm productivity; firms in the top quartile of R&D intensity had ~20% higher labor productivity than those in the bottom quartile (OECD evidence)https://www.oecd.org/sti/rd-productivity-evidence.pdf
05
Increasing R&D spending by 10% increases patent output by 3%–6% in panel studies of firmshttps://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2011.01032.x
06
R&D intensity in the EU averaged 2.19% in 2022https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Research_and_development_statistics_-_R%26D_expenditure
07
South Korea’s R&D intensity was 5.08% in 2022 (highest among listed countries)https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS
Interpretation
Economic And Impact Interpretation
Across countries, R&D investment shows clear economic impact, with tax credits boosting R&D investment by 10% and the OECD finding that firms with the highest R&D intensity deliver about 20% higher labor productivity.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
James Okoro. (2026, February 13). R&D Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/r-d-statistics
MLA
James Okoro. "R&D Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/r-d-statistics.
Chicago
James Okoro. 2026. "R&D Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/r-d-statistics.
Sources & references
22 datasets cited across this report
+6 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)