Europe still invests less in R&D than its competitors, according to latest figures
Europe still invests less of its GDP in research and development (R&D) than its competitors, and European women are more likely to continue working in science and technology after completing than studies than men, according to statistics gathered since 1985 by Eurostat, the Statistical office of the European Communities. Eurostat details its observations in a panoramic study on 'Statistics on science and technology in Europe', giving an overview of R&D in the EU. 'It constitutes a useful tool not only for science and technology policy-makers but also for all those interested in a statistical view of the knowledge-based economy at the end of the nineties,' claims Eurostat. In addition to the usual statistics on R&D expenditure, R&D personnel, government R&D appropriations and patents, the 2000 edition includes data on innovation, employment in high technology sectors and human resources in science and technology. It focuses on the EU Member States, Iceland and Norway, as well as providing comparisons with Japan and the United States. Some indicators are presented at the EU regional level. Weak investment in Europe's R&D sector in comparison to the USA and Japan has been of great concern to government and industry in the Member States for some time, leading (in March 2000) to the adoption of the Lisbon goals to promote innovation and technology in Europe. The Eurostat report presents the latest statistics on this sector and confirms that Europe still lags behind its competitors, in terms of investment in R&D in relation to GDP. 'In 1998, Japan devoted 3.03 per cent of its GDP to research and development, the USA 2.58 per cent and the EU 1.86 per cent', Eurostat reports. 'Since 1993 to 1994, the EU has followed a diverging path, as its relative R&D effort has decreased, while it has increased in the USA and in Japan.' But, 'in absolute terms, expenditure on R&D in the EU and the USA increased over the period while it stagnated in Japan.' The three economies also differed in terms of the weight of the business sector's involvement in R&D. 'In Japan and the USA, the business sector accounted for 75 per cent and 77 per cent respectively of total R&D expenditure in 1998, while this share was 64 per cent in the EU. But, in contrast the proportion of R&D expenditure committed by the public sector (higher education and government) was the highest in the EU. In addition, the statistics reveal that Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom accounted for almost 75 per cent of total EU R&D expenditure in 1998. But, in relative terms, it was Sweden and Finland who dedicated the largest proportion of their GDP to research (3.77 per cent and 2.89 per cent respectively). Germany followed with 2.29 per cent, then France with 2.19 per cent, and the Netherlands (2.04 per cent in 1997) and Denmark (1.93 per cent). Eurostat also recorded two different trends in the Member States between 1985 and 1998 with the four biggest spenders on R&D decreasing their efforts relative to GDP, while all the other Member States, with the exception of the Netherlands, increased theirs. 'The strongest increases took place in Finland, Greece, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Denmark,' it reports. Sweden, Belgium, Denmark and Finland had the highest proportion of their workforce employed in the science and technology sector. 'In these Member States, nearly one fifth of the labour force had a third level education and worked in a science and technology occupation,' says Eurostat. The lowest ratios were observed in Italy, Portugal and Austria. But overall the proportion of people with third level education and working in the science and technology sector increased in all the Member States between 1994 and 1999. The report also reveals that women are more likely to continue working in the science and technology sector after completing their education: 'Data show a relatively higher proportion of women with a third level education working in a science and technology occupation (15 per cent of the EU female labour force), compared to men (13 per cent of the EU male labour force),' says Eurostat. Men seemed more likely to enter a non-science and technology profession following studies. 'This feature was observed in all the Member States except in Germany were the rates were 14 per cent for women and 15 per cent for men and in Luxembourg, where the rates were equal (17 per cent). The publication is based on data supplied to Eurostat by the Member States, Iceland, Norway, the Research DG of the European Commission, the European Patent Office and the OECD. It covers the period from 1985 to 1999 for R&D indicators while time series begin in 1994 for the more recently developed indicators. Complete time series are available on a CD-ROM version of the publication. The Community research and technological development policy is also presented in the publication while possible directions for future science and technology statistics are explored in a separate chapter.