Scottish R&D expenditure still lags behind that of EU, finds report
Although research and development (R&D) expenditure by Scottish business has risen at its fastest since 1999, the country still lags behind its EU counterparts, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) of the Scottish Executive. According to the report, 'Business Enterprise Research and Development Scotland 2005', investment in R&D stood at €882 million in 2005 compared to €746 million the previous year. This represented an increase of 16% in real terms. 'R&D expenditure in Scotland has increased by 29% in real terms in the six-year period between 1999 and 2005, compared to a real terms increase of 3% in the UK. This is the highest level of Scottish R&D in cash terms since 1999,' reads the report. However, this figure represented only 0.59% of Scottish gross domestic product (GDP) compared to 1.08% of GDP in the UK and 1.12% of GDP in the EU25. This makes business R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP lower in Scotland than in most other EU countries. For example, Ireland had a business R&D investment level of 0.82% of GDP and Sweden 2.92% of GDP. Also, US-owned companies undertook 50% of business R&D in Scotland, compared to just 24% carried out by Scottish-based firms. However, Scotland performed well in terms of R&D undertaken by the higher education sector. The report found that in 2004, higher education R&D expenditure stood at €920 million, 12.8% of the UK figure and 0.65% of GDP. This is an increase of €53 million since 2003. 'Scotland also performs well at the international level, with Scotland's higher education R&D as a percentage of GDP in the first quartile of OECD (Organisation of Economic Corporation and Development) countries, and below only that of Canada, Finland and Switzerland,' say the authors of the report. The report raises doubts as to whether Scotland, the UK or the EU as a whole will be able to reach the Barcelona objective of investing 3% of GDP in research by 2010.
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