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Business Expenditure on Research and Development 2011/2012

 

 

Business Expenditure on Research and Development 2011/2012 – Key Findings

 

 

  • Enterprises across all business sectors in Ireland spent almost €1.9 billion on in-house research and development (R&D) activities in 2011 with 86% of this spent on current expenditure (labour costs of R&D staff, etc) and 14% on capital expenditure (land and buildings, etc).
  • The R&D spend in 2011 was on a par with 2010 levels. Those enterprises that were active in R&D in 2011 estimated that they would increase their R&D spend, bringing the total R&D spend to almost €2bn in 2012.
  • Almost three-quarters of the total expenditure on in-house R&D was by medium and large enterprises (employing 50+ persons).
  • In excess of 61% of total R&D expenditure was generated in the services sector.
  • Provisional EU data indicates an average EU R&D spend for 2011 of 1.26% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Finland reported the highest spend at 2.67% of GDP while Ireland spent 1.17% of GDP on R&D.
  • Foreign owned enterprises accounted for 55% of turnover and over 22% of employment in 2010 in the business sector in Ireland, see CSO “Business in Ireland 2010” report (Click here). These foreign owned enterprises accounted for €1.3bn of the total R&D spend or 71% of such expenditure in Ireland.

 

Research and Development – human resources

 

  • In 2011, over 19,000 persons (or 14,000 persons on a full time equivalent (FTE) basis) were engaged in R&D activities of which two-thirds (66%) were engaged in medium and large enterprises.
  • Almost 10% of R&D staff (FTE) held a PhD qualification.
  • Over three-quarters of all R&D staff were male.
  • Over half (53%) of R&D personnel were employed in foreign owned enterprises.
  • Over a third (34%) of R&D staff (FTE) were engaged in the manufacturing sector.

 

Number of enterprises engaged in Research and Development activities, 2011

 

  • Over 1,600 enterprises were engaged in R&D activities of which 58% were in the services sector and 42% in manufacturing.
  • Of these enterprises, over 72% spent less than €500,000 on R&D activities.
  • One in ten enterprises spent €2m or more on R&D. Over a quarter (27%) of foreign owned enterprises spent over €2m and 23% spent between €500,000 and €2m on R&D.
  • Almost one in four (24%) of medium and large enterprises invested over €2m in R&D while a further 24% of such enterprises invested between €500,000 and €2m.

 

Type of Research and Development expenditure in 2011

 

  • R&D expenditure was mostly concentrated in experimental development, accounting for 71% of all expenditure.
  • Nearly two-thirds of Irish enterprises were engaged in experimental development compared to three-quarters of foreign owned companies.
  • Small enterprises were more likely to engage in applied research than medium and large enterprises.

 

Data sources

 

The Business Expenditure on Research and Development (BERD) Survey 2011/2012 is a survey of the research and development activities of enterprises in Ireland and is jointly conducted by the Central Statistics Office and Forfas. The survey covers all sectors in the economy and is conducted biennially since 2007/2008.

 

To access Business Expenditure on Research and Development 2011/2012 data, please use the following link:

BERD Nationality of Ownership = Click here

BERD Size of Enterprise = Click here

BERD Sector of Activity = Click here

BERD Region = Click here

 

The “Business Expenditure on R&D” data represents only a small fraction of the business statistics available for Ireland www.cso.ie.

 

For further information contact:

Carol Anne Hennessy 021 453 5161 or

Mary Duggan 021 453 5584 or

Cork Office 021 453 5000 or

Dublin Office 01 498 4000

 

LoCall: 1890 313 414

 

Results, Analysis and Publications Section Fax: 021 453 5555

Structural Business Statistics e-mail: Industry_Rap@cso.ie

 

Central Statistics Office                                                                   15 February 2013

– ENDS-