1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2003  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 24/01/2003   
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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 2000-01 Australia's R&D expenditure was 1.53% of its GDP, ranking it below Sweden (3.78%), Finland (3.37%), Japan (2.98%), the United States of America (2.70%), Korea (2.68%), Switzerland (2.64%), Germany (2.48%), France (2.15%), Denmark (2.09%), the Netherlands (2.02%), Belgium (1.96%), the United Kingdom (1.86%), Canada (1.84%) and Norway (1.70%).

In terms of business enterprise R&D, Australia's ratio of R&D expenditure to GDP (0.72%) 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 fourth in the group of OECD member countries for which data are available, behind only France (0.38%), Korea (0.36%) and Finland (0.36%). Government sector R&D as a percentage of GDP is much higher for Australia than for the United States of America or Canada.

For the higher education sector, Australia ranks in the top half. With an R&D to GDP ratio of 0.41%, Australia ranks behind Sweden (0.81%), Switzerland (0.61%), Finland (0.60%), Canada (0.57%), the Netherlands (0.53%), Norway (0.49%), Belgium (0.47%), Japan (0.43%) and Denmark (0.42%).


25.3 EXPENDITURE ON R&D AS A PERCENTAGE OF GDP, OECD countries - 2000-01
Business
Government
Higher education
All sectorsl(a)
Country
%
%
%
%
Sweden(b)
2.84
0.13
0.81
3.78
Finland
2.39
0.36
0.60
3.37
Japan
2.11
0.29
0.43
2.98
United States of America
2.04
0.20
0.37
2.70
Korea
1.98
0.36
0.30
2.68
Switzerland
1.95
0.03
0.61
2.64
Germany
1.76
0.33
0.40
2.48
France
1.37
0.38
0.36
2.15
Denmark(b)
1.32
0.32
0.42
2.09
Netherlands(b)
1.14
0.33
0.53
2.02
Belgium(b)
1.40
0.06
0.47
1.96
United Kingdom
1.22
0.23
0.38
1.86
Canada
1.04
0.21
0.57
1.84
Norway(b)
0.95
0.26
0.49
1.70
Australia
0.72
0.35
0.41
1.53
Czech Republic
0.81
0.34
0.19
1.35
Italy(b)
0.51
0.20
0.33
1.04
Spain
0.50
0.15
0.28
0.94
Hungary
0.36
0.21
0.19
0.81
Poland
0.25
0.23
0.22
0.70
Slovak Republic
0.45
0.17
0.07
0.69
(a) Includes private non-profit.
(b) Data for 1999-2000.

Source: OECD, Main Science and Technology Indicators 2002-1.



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