1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2002  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 25/01/2002   
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Contents >> Science and Innovation >> Expenditure on R&D - how does Australia compare internationally?

The most commonly used indicator for comparison purposes is the ratio of expenditure on R&D to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). As table 25.3 shows, in 1998-99 Australia's R&D expenditure was 1.50% of its GDP, ranking it below Japan (3.04%), Finland (2.89%), the United States (2.60%), Korea (2.55%), Germany (2.31%), France (2.18%), Iceland (2.04%), Netherlands (1.95%), the United Kingdom (1.83%) and Canada (1.71%).

In terms of business enterprise R&D, Australia's ratio of R&D expenditure to GDP (0.68%) is again below the ratios for the industrialised countries referred to earlier, and is also below the rate for the Czech Republic.

For government sector R&D as a percentage of GDP, Australia ranks higher. An R&D to GDP ratio of 0.35% places it fifth in the group of OECD member countries for which data are available, behind only Iceland (0.76%), Korea (0.45%), France (0.41%) and Finland (0.36%). Government sector R&D as a percentage of GDP is much higher for Australia than for the United States and Canada.

For the higher education sector, Australia also ranks highly. With an R&D to GDP ratio of 0.44%, Australia ranks behind only Finland (0.57%), Netherlands (0.53%), Iceland (0.51%), Japan (0.45%) and Canada (0.45%) among OECD countries.


25.3 EXPENDITURE ON R&D AS A PERCENTAGE OF GDP, OECD Countries - 1998-99

Country
Business

%
Government

%
Higher education

%
Total(a)

%

Japan
2.17
0.28
0.45
3.04
Finland
1.94
0.36
0.57
2.89
United States
1.94
0.21
0.37
2.60
Korea
1.79
0.45
0.28
2.55
Germany
1.57
0.34
0.40
2.31
France
1.36
0.41
0.38
2.18
Iceland
0.75
0.76
0.51
2.04
Netherlands
1.06
0.35
0.53
1.95
United Kingdom
1.20
0.24
0.36
1.83
Canada
1.03
0.22
0.45
1.71
Australia
0.68
0.35
0.44
1.50
Czech Republic
0.82
0.33
0.12
1.27
Italy
0.55
0.22
0.25
1.02
Spain
0.47
0.15
0.27
0.90
Poland
0.30
0.22
0.20
0.72
Hungary
0.26
0.21
0.17
0.68

(a) Includes private non-profit.

Source: Main Science and Technology Indicators 2001-1, OECD, Paris, 2001.



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