Countries are far from reaching their national research and development targets set as part of the Commission’s Europe 2020 growth strategy and this is largely down to a lack of investment from business, according to the report published on 10 June.
The total research and development spend from public and private sources as a proportion of gross domestic product is below 2 per cent in the UK. This is less than the average across the EU, and puts the UK in 12th place when ranked against other European countries in terms of combined spending.
The data, published in the Research and Innovation as a Source of Renewed Growth report, show that among European countries, Finland and Sweden invest the highest amount in all research and development as a proportion of GDP, at around 3.5 per cent. But even in these countries, the level of investment is below that seen in South Korea, which invests 4 per cent.