Press release dated 19/11/2010

TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH STATISTICS OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY (R&D) 2009

Spending on R&D in the Basque Country accounted for 1.98% of GDP in 2009

Expenditure was thus up 1.3% compared to 2008

In 2009, 1281 million euros were invested in Scientific Research and Technological Development (R&D) in the Basque Country, according to EUSTAT data, 1.3% up on the previous year. This meant that the growth rates remained positive despite the economic situation.

In 2009, spending on R&D in relation to the GDP of the Basque Country increased to 1.98% of GDP, 12 centesimal up on the previous year. This contributed to the positive increase in spending and the negative performance of the GDP. With regard to the EU-27 average, and compared to the latest data available for 2008, the spending of the Basque Country in terms of the GDP was up eight hundreths and was thus clearly above the Spanish average, which was 1.38% of the GDP.



76.3% of expenditure on R&D in the Basque Country was in the company sector

By sectors, Basque companies accounted for 76.3% of spending on R&D, 18% was devoted to university research and the remaining 5.7% was by various public organisations dependent on the Administration.

The business sector of the Basque Country therefore continued to place a greater emphasis comparatively on research, even though spending fell by 2.7% compared to the previous year. The Public Administration and Higher Education sectors increased their share compared to 2008, given their increased spending in 2009 (20.3% and 16.3%, respectively). The spending structure in the Basque Country continued to be significantly different to the Spanish average, where companies accounted for 52.1% of expenditure on R&D in 2009, Higher Education 27.8% and the Public Administration 20.1%.

By sectors, Industry accounted for 44.4% of spending on R&D in 2008 and the Services sector for 53.6%. Focusing on industrial companies, special mention should be made of the branches of Transport Material, Other Machinery and Metal Articles, which jointly accounted for 21% of internal expenditure by the company sector. Turning to the services companies, those whose main activity is R&D services devoted most resources, accounting for 42% of total internal business expenditure.

From the point of view of funding, the private sector, through companies, devoted 692 million euros to research, 54% of the total; public funding accounted for 40%, higher education for 2.5% and the remaining 3.5% of funds came from overseas or from different non-profit institutions.

Total full-time equivalent R&D personnel in the Basque Country stood to 16,690 people (8.6% more than in 2008), 62% of whom were researchers (9640). The R&D of the the Basque Country accounted for 17 per thousand employed workers, while the figure for researchers was 11 per thousand.



34% of R&D personnel were women

Thirty-four per cent of R&D personnel were women and the highest percentages of female participation were seen in the Public Administration and in Higher Education, with 50% and 47,4% respectively, whereas this percentage stood at 29.3% in companies.

Methodological note: The classification criteria by implementation sectors have been reviewed, which meant that some units have been reclassified compared to previous years. This does not affect the total expenditure, but it does the data per implementation sector. The series is going to be reviewed and will be shortly published in the Eustat databank.

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 46 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01 Further press releases on Technological Development and Scientific Research Statistics Technological Development and Scientific Research Statistics Databank