Press Release 08/11/2012
Expenditure on R&D in the Basque Country grew by 0.4%, representing 2.04% of GDP in 2011
The number of those in full-time work stood at 17,879 individuals following a rise of 2.0% with regards to 2010
In 2011 1,366.2 million euros were invested in Technological Development and Scientific Research (R&D) in the Basque Country, according to data provided by Eustat, 0.4% up on the previous year.
Despite this increase, expenditure on R&D in relation to the GDP of the Basque Country fell four hundredths with regards to the previous year, standing at 2.04%.
The number of individuals in work, for their part, stood at 17,879 in equivalent full-time positions (E.F.T.), following a 2.0% increase compared to the previous year, and represented 1.85 of the working population. Of these working individuals, 11,283 were researchers in full-time positions, following a 1.9% rise with regards to the previous year.
34.7% of R&D personnel were women
6,204 individuals, 34.7% of R&D personnel in full-time work, were women, with the highest percentages of female presence in the Public Administration and Higher Education with 51.3% and 47.7%, respectively, whilst for Companies this percentage stood at 29.7%.
76.0% of expenditure on R&D in the Basque Country was implemented by the business sector
In terms of who carried out expenditure on R&D, the majority, 76.0% (1,038,7 million euros) was implemented by companies, whereas 17.9% (244.3 million) corresponded to higher education and the remaining 6.1% (83.2 million) was carried out by various bodies dependent on the Administration.
With regards to the previous year, Higher Education increased its percentage of participation by seven tenths, whilst the business sector of the Basque Country, despite being the sector that implemented the greatest research effort, registered a drop of five tenths. The Public Administration, for its part, also reduced its contribution by two tenths.
Although, to date, there are no data for Spain or and the EU-27, in 2010 we can see that the expenditure in the Basque Country was very different to the Spanish average, where 51.6% of expenditure on R&D was carried out by companies, 28.3% by Higher Education and 20.1% by the Public Administration. With regards to the EU-27, there was also a divergence, although the figures were more similar.
With regards to the expenditure implemented by the Business Sector on R&D by sectors of activity, 40.2% of expenditure was concentrated within the industrial sector, whilst the services sector accounted for 56.9%, and the remaining 2.9% was implemented by construction and the primary sector. Focusing on industrial companies, special mention should be made of the fact that the activity branches of Transport Material (7.8%), Other Machinery (5.8%) and Metal Items (4.4%) are those that implemented the most internal expenditure on R&D. Within services companies, those included in R&D Activities (37.5%) and Other Business Activities (9.6%) dedicated the most resources to internal R&D expenditure.
As regards the importance of Technology Centres in the Basque Science, Technology and Innovation Network, the expenditure implemented stood at 231.2 million euros, 16.9% of the total, and employed 2,832 individuals in equivalent full-time positions, 15.8% of the total. These figures reflect a large increase compared to those from the year before, 139.7 million and 1,751 individuals.
From the point of view of who funded R&D expenditure, similar percentages to previous years were maintained. Private financing, via companies, destined 741.4 million euros, 54.3% of the total; 526.8 million came from public funding, 38.6% of the total, and 31.6 million came from higher education, 2.3% of the total, with 60.4 million coming from foreign sources, 4.4%, and 6.0 million, or 0.4%, from various non-profit organisations.
Finally, as regards the evolution of expenditure on R&D in relation to Gross Domestic Product, with no data yet available for 2011 either in Spain or the EU-27, it can be observed how the percentage of expenditure over GDP in the Basque Country has systematically remained above that of the Spanish average, and surpassed EU-27 figures in 2010. Nevertheless, in 2011 there was a decrease of four hundredths in the indicator for the Basque Country.
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