8112.0 - Research and Experimental Development, All Sector Summary, Australia, 2008-09 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 11/10/2010   
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NOTES


INTRODUCTION

This release presents summary statistics on Research and Experimental Development (R&D) undertaken by Australian organisations within the Business, Government, Higher education and Private non-profit sectors for the 2008-09 reference period. These statistics, as well as time series data, are also available in spreadsheet format (data cubes); see the Downloads page for this issue (cat. no. 8112.0) on the ABS website <www.abs.gov.au>.

Users should refer to the Explanatory and Technical Notes for further contextual information when interpreting these results.

Data in this issue have been released previously on an individual sector basis and at more detailed levels. See Explanatory Note 2 for further detail.


CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

For the first time, field of research and socio-economic objective data presented in this issue have been collected and compiled based on the Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008 (cat. no. 1297.0). Previous issues used the Australian Standard Research Classification (ASRC).

Previous cycle estimates have not been recompiled using the new classification. As such, field of research and socio-economic objective tables present current cycle data only and on an ANZSRC basis. However, previous cycle data are available in the data cubes on an ASRC basis.


DATA QUALITY

When interpreting the results in this release, it is important to take into account factors that may affect the reliability of estimates. These factors are described in the Non-sampling error section of the Technical Note.

This release includes revised data for the 2006-07 reference period. Refer to the Revisions section of the Technical Note for further detail.


INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Fiona Manson on Perth (08) 9360 5382.


SUMMARY COMMENTARY


GROSS RESOURCES DEVOTED TO RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTAL DEVELOPMENT (R&D)

Gross expenditure on R&D (GERD) and Gross human resources devoted to R&D represent the total expenditure and human resources devoted to R&D by the Business, Government, Higher education and Private non-profit sectors. For information on sector classification, see Explanatory Note 7. All figures in this release are in current prices.


GERD

In 2008-09, Australian GERD was $27.7 billion, an increase of $6.0 billion (or 27%) over 2006-07.

GERD, by sector

1998-99
2000-01
2002-03
2004-05
2006-07(a)
2008-09
$m
$m
$m
$m
$m
$m

Business
4 095
4 983
6 940
8 676
r12 639
16 858
Government
Commonwealth
1 179
1 405
1 531
1 544
r2 046
2 252
State/territory
864
951
951
942
r1 049
1 169
Total
2 043
2 356
2 482
2 486
r3 095
3 420
Higher education
2 555
2 790
3 430
4 327
r5 434
6 717
Private non-profit
225
289
360
479
r609
744
Total
8 918
10 417
13 212
15 969
r21 777
27 740

r revised
(a) 2006-07 data have been revised. See the Revisions section of the Technical Note for details.


Over the ten years to 2008-09, GERD has more than tripled from $8.9 billion in 1998-99.

Gross expenditure on R&D
Graph: Gross expenditure on R&D



GERD and gross domestic product (GDP)

GERD as a proportion of GDP increased from 2.00% in 2006-07 to 2.21% in 2008-09.

GERD, as a proportion of GDP(a)
Graph: GERD, as a proportion of GDP(a)


The following table shows GERD/GDP ratios for Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Although Australia's GERD/GDP ratio for 2008-09 remained below the Total OECD ratio of 2.33%, its growth from 2006-07 (0.21 percentage points) was greater than the growth in the Total OECD ratio (0.09 percentage points).
GERD/GDP ratios of OECD countries(a)(b)(c)

2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
%
%
%
%
%

Sweden
3.62
3.60
3.74
3.61
3.75
Finland
3.45
3.48
3.48
3.48
3.73
Japan
3.17
3.32
3.41
3.44
3.42
Korea
2.68
2.79
3.01
3.21
3.37
Switzerland
2.90
na
na
na
3.01
United States of America
2.54
2.57
2.61
2.66
2.77
Denmark
2.49
2.46
2.48
2.55
2.72
Austria
2.26
2.45
2.47
2.54
2.68
Iceland
na
2.77
2.99
2.69
2.65
Germany
2.49
2.49
2.53
2.53
2.64
Australia
1.73
na
2.00
na
2.21
France
2.15
2.10
2.10
2.04
2.02
Belgium
1.86
1.83
1.86
1.90
1.92
Canada
2.08
2.05
1.97
1.90
1.84
United Kingdom
1.68
1.73
1.75
1.79
1.77
Netherlands
1.81
1.79
1.78
1.82
1.75
Norway
1.59
1.52
1.52
1.65
1.62
Luxembourg
1.63
1.56
1.65
1.58
1.62
Portugal
0.77
0.81
1.02
1.21
1.51
Czech Republic
1.25
1.41
1.55
1.54
1.47
Ireland
1.23
1.25
1.25
1.28
1.43
Spain
1.06
1.12
1.20
1.27
1.35
New Zealand
na
1.16
na
1.21
na
Italy
1.10
1.09
1.13
1.18
1.19
Hungary
0.87
0.95
1.00
0.97
1.00
Turkey
0.52
0.59
0.58
0.72
0.73
Greece
0.55
0.59
0.58
0.58
na
Poland
0.56
0.57
0.56
0.57
0.61
Slovak Republic
0.51
0.51
0.49
0.46
0.47
Mexico
0.40
0.41
0.39
0.38
na
Total OECD
2.17
2.21
2.24
2.28
2.33

na not available
(a) Except for Australia, the GERD/GDP ratios shown for OECD countries are sourced from Main Science and Technology Indicators, 2010/1, OECD. Ratios for Australia have been calculated using the most recent ABS values for GERD and GDP. See Explanatory Notes 15 and 16.
(b) GERD/GDP ratios for some countries are projected or estimated as per the OECD source table.
(c) Countries are ranked by the most recent available GERD/GDP ratio.



Sector

In 2008-09, the Business and Higher education sectors remained the largest contributors to GERD (at $16.9 billion and $6.7 billion, respectively). These two sectors also recorded the strongest growth in both dollar and percentage terms between 2006-07 and 2008-09: Business up $4.2 billion or 33%; and Higher education up $1.3 billion or 24%. The weakest growth in percentage terms was recorded by the Government sector, up 11% from 2006-07.

GERD, by sector
Graph: GERD, by sector


The Business sector was the only sector to increase its share of GERD, accounting for 61% of GERD in 2008-09, up 3 percentage points from 58% in 2006-07.


Industry

In 2008-09, at the industry level, the largest values of GERD were reported for Education and training (over $6.8 billion), Professional, scientific and technical services ($5.0 billion), Manufacturing ($4.3 billion) and Mining ($4.2 billion). These four industries combined contributed over 73% of GERD.

Almost all GERD for Education and training was attributable to the Higher education sector; all expenditure on R&D by the Higher education sector contributes to this industry. The Business sector contributed most of GERD for Manufacturing and all of GERD for Mining. In contrast, three of the four sectors made notable contributions to GERD for Professional, scientific and technical services.

Of all industries, Mining showed the largest dollar increase in expenditure on R&D from 2006-07 (up $1.5 billion), accounting for 25% of the increase in GERD. The next largest increases were reported by Professional, scientific and technical services (up $1.0 billion) and Financial and insurance services (up $0.9 billion).


Type of expenditure

In 2008-09, Current expenditure accounted for 93% or $25.7 billion of GERD which, in turn, was comprised of $10.5 billion in Labour costs and $15.2 billion in Other current expenditure. Capital expenditure totalled $2.0 billion over the period.

Growth in GERD from 2006-07 was driven by a $5.5 billion increase in Current expenditure (93% of the overall growth), primarily due to the contribution of the Business sector (up $4.2 billion). Total Capital expenditure increased by $0.4 billion.

GERD, by type of expenditure
Graph: GERD, by type of expenditure


Source of funds

The major sources of funds for R&D in 2008-09 were Business ($16.8 billion) and Commonwealth government ($8.4 billion). These two sources also recorded the largest dollar increases from 2006-07 (up $4.4 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively). While the Business sector was the primary recipient of Business funding across the sectors (at 97%), the Higher education sector received the most Commonwealth funding for R&D (at 67%).

GERD, by source of funds
Graph: GERD, by source of funds


Location

For the definition of location, see Explanatory Note 10. New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria accounted for over half (55%) of GERD in 2008-09 (at $8.3 billion and $7.1 billion, respectively). NSW and Western Australia (WA) recorded the greatest dollar growth in GERD from 2006-07, with increases of $1.8 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively. WA also recorded the largest increase in its share of GERD (up 4 percentage points from 13% in 2006-07) and showed strong percentage growth in R&D expenditure (up 59% from 2006-07).

GERD, by selected locations(a)
Graph: GERD, by selected locations(a)



GERD and gross state product (GSP)

In 2008-09, GERD as a proportion of GSP was highest for the Australian Capital Territory (4.11%) and WA (2.70%). WA reported the largest growth in its GERD/GSP ratio, up 0.62 percentage points from 2.08% in 2006-07.

GERD, by location(a) - proportion of GSP(b)

NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%

2006-07
1.84
2.28
1.48
2.31
2.08
np
np
np
2008-09
2.05
2.44
1.59
2.38
2.70
np
np
4.11

np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) See Explanatory Note 10 for details.
(b) See Explanatory Note 15 for details.



Type of activity

In 2008-09, 80% of GERD was directed into Experimental development ($11.5 billion) and Applied research ($10.6 billion). These two types of activity also recorded the strongest dollar growth from 2006-07, with Experimental development increasing by $2.8 billion and Applied research increasing by $2.2 billion. Pure basic research and Strategic basic research each increased by $0.5 billion.

GERD, by type of activity
Graph: GERD, by type of activity


Field of research

In 2008-09, Engineering accounted for the largest share of GERD (over 37% or $10.3 billion), followed by Information and computing sciences (over 17% or $4.9 billion) and Medical and health sciences (14% or $4.0 billion).

While the Business sector was the largest contributor to both Engineering and Information and computing sciences in 2008-09, its spending on Medical and health sciences was less than half that of the Higher education sector.


Socio-economic objective (SEO)

In 2008-09, just over two thirds of GERD was directed into the SEO sector of Economic development (67% or $18.7 billion). The next most prevalent SEO sector was Society (19% or $5.3 billion).

At the SEO division level, over half of GERD was directed into the four largest divisions: Manufacturing ($5.0 billion); Health ($4.0 billion); Energy (over $2.8 billion); and Mineral resources ($2.8 billion).


GROSS HUMAN RESOURCES DEVOTED TO R&D

Gross human resources devoted to R&D in 2008-09 totalled 136,696 person years of effort (PYE), an increase of 9,994 PYE (or 8%) from 2006-07.

Gross human resources devoted to R&D, by sector

1998-99
2000-01
2002-03
2004-05
2006-07(a)
2008-09
PYE
PYE
PYE
PYE
PYE
PYE

Business
25 109
28 391
35 939
40 458
r46 462
53 556
Government
Commonwealth
9 353
9 565
10 185
9 368
r9 481
9 209
State/territory
9 069
8 587
8 357
7 320
r7 279
7 834
Total
18 422
18 152
18 541
16 687
r16 760
17 042
Higher education
45 502
46 287
49 612
55 204
r58 905
61 310
Private non-profit
2 551
2 791
3 117
3 845
r4 575
4 788
Total
91 583
95 621
107 209
116 194
r126 702
136 696

r revised
(a) 2006-07 data have been revised. See the Revisions section of the Technical Note for details.


Over the ten years to 2008-09, Gross human resources devoted to R&D has shown steady growth.

Gross human resources devoted to R&D
Graph: Gross human resources devoted to R&D


Sector

The majority of Human resources devoted to R&D in 2008-09 came from the Higher education (45%) and Business (39%) sectors. Together, these sectors accounted for 95% (or 9,499 PYE) of the increase in Gross human resources devoted to R&D, between 2006-07 and 2008-09.

Gross human resources devoted to R&D, by sector
Graph: Gross human resources devoted to R&D, by sector


Industry

The largest industry contributors to Gross human resources devoted to R&D were Education and training (over 61,418 PYE), Professional, scientific and technical services (26,395 PYE) and Manufacturing (17,182 PYE).

Of all indusries, Financial and insurance services showed the largest absolute growth in Human resources devoted to R&D between 2006-07 and 2008-09, up 2,612 PYE.


Type of resource

At 91,617 PYE, Researchers accounted for over two thirds (67%) of the Gross human resources devoted to R&D in 2008-09 and showed the largest growth in absolute terms from 2006-07 (up 4,416 PYE). Technicians showed the largest percentage increase in effort devoted to R&D (up 18% or 3,712 PYE) from 2006-07, followed by Other staff (up 10% or 1,867 PYE).

The growth in Technician effort was dominated by the Business sector (up 2,740 PYE), as was the growth in Other staff effort (up 2,185 PYE). The majority of growth in Researcher effort was attributable to the Higher education sector (up 2,473 PYE), however the Business sector also made a notable contribution (up 2,170 PYE).

Gross human resources devoted to R&D, by type of resource
Graph: Gross human resources devoted to R&D, by type of resource