The year 2003 saw a total investment of 700 million euros in Scientific Research and Technological Development Activities (R&D) in the A.C. of the Basque Country. Of this amount, 341 million corresponded to Bizkaia (48.8%), 265 to Gipuzkoa (37.9%) and 93 to Álava (13.3%), according to Eustat data.

The average increase in internal expenditure on R&D compared to the previous year was 4.1%, with only Gipuzkoa surpassing this average, with a 16.5% increase, compared to the decrease in Bizkaia (-2.8%) and stability in Álava (0.1%).

This increase experienced by Gipuzkoa is similarly reflected if we compare R&D spending as a percentage of GDP, a figure which stood at 1.48% for the A.C. of the Basque Country as a whole. It can be seen that in Gipuzkoa this indicator was 1.70%, whereas in Bizkaia it reached 1.43% and in Álava 1.20% - still higher than the Spanish average (1.10%) in all three provinces

As regards the execution sectors, each province shows its own characteristics. Expenditure on the Public Administration sectors continued to be of great importance in Álava, due to the concentration of various bodies that depend on the administration, which increased expenditure on resources dedicated to R&D by 14%. However, the University continued to have less weight less than in the rest of the A.C. of the Basque Country and in the case of the business sector, there was a 2% decline.

In Gipuzkoa, on the other hand, the Administration remained the sector that spent the least, but there was a significant rise in the business sector as a result of its specific business fabric (an increase of 19% in relation to 2002). The high level of the university sector was maintained due to the high proportion of technological faculties and the 6.5% increase in resources dedicated to R&D this year, which doubled the average of the A.C. of the Basque Country as a whole (3.3%).

As for Bizkaia, expenditure in all sectors was high. University sector expenditure was high, mainly because the Science Faculties of the University of the Basque Country are concentrated in the Leioa campus. However, it should be mentioned that expenditure in the Public Administration sector in 2003 increased by 18%, whereas in business 5% less was invested in research than in 2002.

The importance of funding by companies themselves (66.1%), as regards private resources earmarked for research, situated all three provinces above the state average (48.8%) and at the level of countries such as Germany, USA, Switzerland and Belgium. If we look at funds coming from abroad in 2003, 29 million euros less were received than in 2002, which represented 3.8% of the total.

The scientific area on which most spending was made and which employed the greatest number of people throughout the three provinces was engineering and technology. However, the percentage of this expenditure earmarked by each province ranged from the maximum of Gipuzkoa with 86% to the minimum of Bizkaia with 72%, leaving Álava in between with 74%.

If we take into consideration the companies in the A.C. of the Basque Country whose main activities were R&D activities, 50% were located in Gipuzkoa, 32% in Bizkaia and 18% in Álava.

According to the classification by technological level applicable to manufacturing companies, we also see important differences between provinces. While in Álava internal expenditure made by businesses grouped together in high or medium-high level technology accounted for 59% of total spending made by the manufacturing industry, in Bizkaia it reached 70% and in Gipuzkoa it came to as much as 75%.

As regards female participation in R&D activities, a mere 27% of the total staff employed in Álava and Gipuzkoa were women, while this figure came to 35% in Bizkaia. In each case these were percentages below the state average, which stood at 37%.