Spain is still far from Europe in terms of R&D investments. Last year it was allocated in our country 17,250 million € In research and development projects (1.4% of GDP), according to data released yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). It represents an increase of 9.4% compared to 2020, when investments stopped due to the effect of the pandemic.
However, this figure is still far from Europe’s commitment to dedicate at least 2% of GDP to R&D. Our country is in the research investment average table compared to other EU partners and below the great strengths of the community club. Germany allocates more than 3% of its GDP to R&D, and France 2.3%. Technological powers such as South Korea (4.8%), the United States (3.4%) and Japan (3.3%) stand out outside the continent.
citizen support
Low spending on R&D clashes with the population’s strong commitment to investing more in science and research. According to the latest barometer of the Center for Sociological Studies (CIS), 93% of citizens believe that more public resources should be spent in this area. It is the area that receives the most support from the participants..
in Spain, spending by companies represents 56% of total investments used in research and development. The rest comes mainly from higher education institutions (27%) and Public Administration (17%). INE estimates that its research and development activities employ 250,000 workers.
Investment in R&D has a direct impact on the productivity of the economy and the quality of employment. According to a Funcas report, Spain spends 44% less effort on innovation compared to the rest of the eurozone investment in worker training is 4.2% lower. “Economic theory and the abundant empirical evidence available reveal variables that explain productivity gains, among which investment in R&D+i stands out,” says the report’s author, Joaquín Maudos.
The study points out that the lack of support for research stems from both the business fabric and the Administration. “The problem of diminished innovative effort is more evident in the private sector.The number of patents filed per capita is less than a third of that in Europe, investment in venture capital as a percentage of GDP is less than half of the euro area, public expenditure on education is 65, 65% of the Economic and Monetary Union, relative to the population aged 16 to 16”, states Maudos in the report.
national plan
The manager aims to get closer to Europe in investment in R&D during this decade. The Spanish Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy plans to double public and private investment to reach the EU average. It is aimed to allocate a figure of 2.12% of GDP to R&D.represents approximately 25,600 million Euros (based on Spain’s gross domestic product in 2021). The plan includes several strategic investment lines, including further development in the areas of health, digitization, culture, climate or citizen security.
Source: Informacion
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