Investment by Gipuzkoa in 2007 is reflected in the comparison of internal expenditure on R&D as a percentage of the GDP, which came to 2.05%, and exceeded the EU-27 average (1.83%) for the first time, according to Eustat data. This indicator was 1.52% in Bizkaia and 1.28% in Álava, with all three provinces over the average for Spain (1.27%).

In 2007, a total of 1090 million euros were invested in Scientific Research and Technological Development (R&D) in the Basque Country. The amount can be broken down as follows: 503 million euros (46%) in Bizkaia, 447 (41%) in Gipuzkoa and 140 (13%) in Álava.

The increase in internal expenditure on R&D with respect to the previous year was 20%, both for the Basque Country as a whole and for Bizkaia. Gipuzkoa exceeded this average with an increase of 23%, while it was up in Álava by 12%

Graph 1: Internal expenditure on R&D in relation to GDP (%).

Source: Eustat and Eurostat

If only capital expenditure (investment in land, buildings, equipment and instruments) are considered, 212 million euros was invested, which was an average increase of 57% on the previous year. However, the distribution between the different provinces was uneven: it was up by 78% in Gipuzkoa, by 46% in Bizkaia and 28% in Álava.

Graph 2: Internal expenditure on R&D by execution sector (%)

Source: EUSTAT

As far as the execution sector was concerned, each province had its own specific features: In Álava, expenditure on the Public Administration, which accounted for 7.2% of the total expenditure of Álava, continued to stand out, due to the concentration of different entities dependent on the Administration and by the 40% increase compared to 2006. The business sector accounted for 79.1%, while the university executed 13.7%.

With regard to Bizkaia, it is noteworthy that the expenditure of the Administration and business sector increased by 22% in 2007 compared to 2006. It continued to be the province where the university sector was the most important (18.8% of the Bizkaia total), mainly because the Science Faculties of the University of the Basque Country are based at the Leioa campus.

In Gipuzkoa, the sector with the lowest relative expenditure continued to be the Administration (0.9% of the total Gipzukoa expenditure), while the corporate sector stood out as a result of its specific business fabric, along with the larger presence of technological centres and by a 26% increase in spending. The university sector, which has a high percentage of technical facilities, executed 11.7% of the resources allocated to R&D.

Engineering and technology continued to be the scientific discipline with the greatest expenditure and which employed the most people in all three provinces. However, the percentage of this expenditure in each province ranged between the maximum of Gipuzkoa with 79% and the minimum of Bizkaia with 66%, while it was 74% in Álava.

Table 1: R&D Indicators by provinces. 2007.

*E.D.P.: Full-time Equivalent

Source: Eustat, INE and EUROSTAT

As far as women's participation in R&D activities was concerned, 30% of the total employees were women in Gipuzkoa, 33% in Álava and 36% in Bizkaia.

The importance of the funding by the companies themselves (59%), in terms of private resources allocated to research, was over the State (45.5%) and European (54.5%) averages in the case of all three provinces.

32% of expenditure on R&D by the business sector is executed in small companies

Companies with less than 50 employees executed 32% of the expenditure on R&D in the business sector. This percentage increased up to 40% in Álava and fell to 30% in Bizkaia, while Gipuzkoa (32%) coincided with the average for the Basque Country.

Companies whose main activity is research executed 41% of the expenditure on R&D in the business sector.

The internal expenditure on R&D of the companies whose main activity are R&D services was over 367 million euros (41% of corporate expenditure on R&D). With regard to the distribution by provinces of this expenditure, Gipuzkoa accounted for 52%, Bizkaia 37% and Álava the remaining 11%.