R&D reaches record levels in Spain as it takes on the EU Presidency
The percentage of Spanish GDP (gross domestic product) destined for research and development (R&D) has reached its highest ever level, just as Spain takes over the European Union's rotating presidency. In addition to reaching 0.94 per cent of GDP in the year 2000, spending on R&D has also shown one of the sharpest rises in recent years in Spain and also in comparison with other EU Member States. The final figure for expenditure was 5.7 billion euro, representing a 14.5 per cent increase on the previous year. 'This represents the consolidation of the trend of sustainable growth, following the serious crisis which affected R&D investment in the period 1994 to 1996, when spending dropped to between 0.81 and 0.83 per cent of GDP,' said a representative of the Spanish Ministry of science and technology. The percentage of the public funding dedicated to R&D has also risen, standing at 1.83 per cent of the budget , which puts it level with or above many other Member States. The increase in public spending from 1999 to 2000 represented a 10.3 per cent increase. The private sector also experienced increases in R&D activity, accounting for 54 per cent of the total in the country. Advances have been made in personnel as well as in funding. Spain's figures of growth for R&D personnel from 1999 to 2000 made it the country with the highest growth in this area in the EU. The increase to 76,600 researchers in 2000 represented an increase of 24 per cent on the previous year. The total number of people working in R&D rose to 120,000 people, an 18 per cent increase. In real terms, this means that from 6.3 people working in R&D for every thousand, Spain rose to 7.1 and the number of actual researchers rose from 3.7 researchers per thousand to 4.5 bringing it closer to the European average of 5.2. The private sector has also seen a leap in the number of researchers, with 5,500 new researchers in the period surveyed, representing a 37.5 per cent rise. The Ministry saw these results as a clear vindication of the relevance of its work, which has included highlighting the relevance of research to society, as well as raising Spain's standards. The data represents results following the Ministry's first full year in operation.
Kraje
Spain