Press release 110/3/2010
The Alto Debra district continued to head expenditure on R/D in terms of GDP in 2008
Expenditure on R&D was concentrated in one or two districts in Álava and Bizkaia, while there is greater dispersion in Gipuzkoa
The Alto Deba district – comprising the municipalities of Antzuola, Aretxabaleta, Elgeta, Eskoriatza, Arrasate/Mondragón, Oñate, Leintz-Gatzaga and Bergara- headed the list of districts with the greatest investment in R&D. The district invested 3.77% of its GDP in 2008, according to Eustat data.
Six districts exceeded the average expenditure on R&D in terms of GDP in the Basque Country (1.85%). Four districts were in Gipuzkoa: the aforementioned Alto Deba (3.77%), Bajo Deba (2.82%), Donostia-San Sebastián (2.45%) and Goierrri (2.14%); the other two were in the province of Bizkaia: Duranguesado (2.07%) and Arratia-Nervión (1.95%).
Four districts account for over 75% of the expenditure on R&D in the Basque Country
In 2008, a total of 1090 million euros were invested in Scientific Research and Technological Development (R&D) in the Basque Country. As was the case in 2007, four districts invested over 100 million euros: Gran Bilbao (475 million), Donostia-San Sebastián (247million), Llanada Alavesa (142 million) and Alto Deba (102 million). Overall, they accounted for 76.5% of the expenditure on R&D of the Basque Country, half a point more than in 2007. With regard to the personnel equivalent to full-time staff, these regions had 79% of researchers, technicians and assistants involved in research.
Graph 2: Distribution of internal expenditure on R&D. Basque Country. 2008 (€ million)
Source: Eustat
The province of Álava had the most concentrated R&D resources in one single district. In fact, 89% of the total expenditure on research in Álava occurred in the Llanada Alavese, with internal expenditure of 142 million euros.
In Bizkaia, the Gran Bilbao district stood out with expenditure of 475 million euros, which accounted for 79.5% of the investment in R&D in this province. The Duranguesado, with 76 million euros allocated to research, accounted for 13% of investment in R&D in Bizkaia.
Gipuzkoa was the province with the largest geographical distribution in terms of resources allocated to R&D. Even though the Donostia-San Sebastián region, with 247 million euros assigned to research, accounted for 49% of investment in Gipuzkoa, the Alto Deba district, which invested 102 million euros, stands out and accounted for 20% of the expenditure in Gipuzkoa. However, expenditure on R&D in this district fell by 7 percentage points with respect to 2007. The Bajo Deba and Goierri districts spent 10% of the provincial expenditure, respectively.
Donostia-San Sebastián, Gran Bilbao and Duranguesado were the districts that received greatest public funding. They all exceeded the average for the Basque Country (40.3%).
Most of the resources in Montaña Alavesa were invested in medical and pharmaceutical sciences (96%), while they were spent on engineering and technology in the other districts. Agricultural sciences (including fishing) were particularly strong in Gernika-Bermeo (32%) and Encartaciones (17%), while natural sciences stood out in Donostia-San Sebastián (22%) and Gran Bilbao (15%).
With respect to the number of women working in research, Montaña Alavesa, Gran Bilbao, Donostia-San Sebastián, Markina-Ondarroa and Llanada Alavesa, in that order, exceeded the average for the Basque Country (33%).
For further information:
Basque Statistics Office
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Tlf:+34-945-01 75 00 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01 E-mail: eustat@eustat.es
Contact: Pilar Vázquez Sancho
Tlf:+34-945-01 75 48 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01
Online press releases: www.eustat.es
Databank: www.eustat.eus/bancopx/spanish/indice.asp