Global Research and Development Spending as Percentage of GDP

Anil Rao

November 11, 2020

Corporate and government spending on research and development (R&D) accounted for about 2% of GDP globally, as of December 2018, with wide variation by country. Israel, Korea and Taiwan, for example, sat at the top of the list in terms of R&D per GDP, and China was right at the global average. Notably, more than 70% of total R&D spending in terms of purchasing power originated outside of North America.

2018 research and development information is sourced from the OECD and World Bank, and includes resident company and government expenditures within each country. Region follows MSCI classification methodology except Israel, which is included here as part of the European region.