Press Release 16/12/2016
Spending on Biotechnology accounted for 6.7% of total R&D spending in the Basque Country in 2015
Equivalent-to-full-time employment rose (6.1%) although spending fell by 1.1% compared to the previous year
In 2015, internal expenditure on R&D for activities related to Biotechnology increased to 85.7 million euros, and accounted for 6.7% of total internal expenditure on R&D according to Eustat data. Employed personnel stood at 1,891 individuals, equal to 1,256 people in equivalent-to-full-time positions, and 6.9% of people employed in R&D.
Equivalent-to-full-time employment posted positive variation (6.1%), reaching a figure of 1.256 individuals, whereas spending, 85.7 million, was reduced by 1.1% compared to the previous year, even though the weight of R&D overall was maintained (6.7%).
As demonstrated in previous years, women are particularly noteworthy in this field, as they represent 57.8% of the total full-time staff employed in Biotechnology. The number of research personnel rose by 7.4% compared to 2014, with 977 individuals employed full-time.
A total of 94 entities carried out research activities in Biotechnology in 2015, of which 88 belonged to the Business Sector. Moreover, 75 of these 94 entities earmarked more than half their internal expenditure for Biotechnology R&D.
Businesses were responsible for 62% of internal expenditure
As in previous years, the Business Sector was the sector that presented the highest percentage of total internal expenditure on R&D activities relating to Biotechnology (62.1%), and this proportion was slightly higher than the same figure in 2014 (60.5%).
The other sectors, Higher Education (31.9%) and Public Administration (6.0%), carried out 37.9% of the remaining expenditure for 2015, a percentage that stood at 39.5% in 2014.
The public administration financed 57.2% of Biotechnology R&D activity
According to the origin of the funds, internal R&D activities relating to Biotechnology in 2015 were funded mainly by the Public Administration (57.2%) and Business (29.7%). The remainder was financed via funds originating from overseas (10.2%), from Higher Education (2.4%) and Private Non-Profit Institutions (0.5%).
As regards the areas of application for the products obtained as a result of Biotechnology research, Human Health (76.1%) and Nutrition (8.0%) both stood out. The remaining areas: The remaining 15.9% was divided in similar percentages between Environment, Industry, Animal Health & Aquaculture and Agriculture & Forestry Production.
Access to capital and time/cost stand out as the main obstacles for carrying out R&D activities in biotechnology
Furthermore, among the obstacles that inhibited the advancement of research and marketing activities relating to biotechnology products and processes in 2015 it is worth noting that Access to Capital for carrying out R&D (91.6%) and Time/Cost (90.7%) were both important factors.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tlf: 945 01 75 62
Further press releases on statistics for R&D in biotechnology in the Basque Country