Bare rise in R&D spend

If Britain is to get further down the road of recovery, it needs to innovate, but the “latest” figures on research and development (R&D) are disappointing.

In 2009, the UK’s gross domestic expenditure on R&D was £25.9 billion, according to the Office for National Statistics. However, this represented an increase, in cash terms, of just 0.4% from the level recorded in 2008 and a 1.2% decrease between 2008 and 2009 in real terms.

In 2009, expenditure on R&D was 1.84% of gross domestic product, up from 1.79% in 2008.

The sectors of the economy carrying out R&D in 2009 in cash terms and the annual change on 2008 were:

• business enterprise: £15.6 billion — down 2.5%,

• higher education: £7.2 billion—- up 6.3%;

• government: £1.3 billion — up 1.8%;

• research councils: £1.1 billion — up 2.4%; and

• private non-profit (PNP): £0.6 billion — up 6.1%.

In 2009, government funding, including Higher Education Funding Councils and Research Councils, accounted for 32.6% of all R&D performed in the UK, up from 30.6% in 2008. Businesses funded 44.5% of all R&D, compared with 45.7% in 2008.

The remaining shares for 2009 were: funding from abroad 16.6%; PNP 5.0%; and other higher education 1.3%.

www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/gerd0311.pdf