Business Enterprise Research and Development 2015

Scotland’s Business Enterprise Research and Development spend down 0.8 per cent over the latest year.

Scotland’s Chief Statistician today released Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) Scotland 2015.

The main findings are:

BERD expenditure in Scotland in 2015 was £871 million, 4.2 per cent of the UK total of £20.9 billion.

Scottish expenditure decreased by 0.8 per cent in real terms compared to 2014 figures. UK expenditure increased by 4.9 per cent in real terms over this period.

Scottish expenditure increased by 41.1 per cent in real terms compared to 2007 figures. UK expenditure increased by 17.1 per cent over this period.

BERD expenditure was 0.60 per cent of Scottish GDP in 2015, the comparable figure was 1.11 per cent for the UK.

BERD expenditure in Scotland is dominated by the Manufacturing sector (£514 million), followed by the Services sector (£279 million) and then Other sectors (£77 million), such as Extractive industries.

Expenditure on R&D in Manufacturing decreased by 1.7% (-£9 million) in real terms between 2014 and 2015, expenditure on R&D in Services increased by 11.5% (+£29 million) and expenditure on R&D in Other sectors decreased by 25.8% (-£27 million).

Enterprises in Scotland employed 10,985 R&D staff in 2015, up from 9,954 in 2014, an increase of 10.4 per cent. This is the highest level of R&D employment since the series began in 2001, when R&D employment stood at 7,210.

In 2015, nearly two thirds (63.9%) of BERD expenditure was undertaken by businesses located in just four local authority areas: City of Edinburgh (24.5%), West Lothian (16.2%), Aberdeen City (13.0%), and Glasgow City (10.2%).

Background

The full statistical publication is available at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Business/RD

This publication presents the most recent data for BERD 2015 – and revised data for 2013 and 2014. Statistics are provided by product group, business size, local authority area, source of funding and country of ownership.

Further information on Business and Enterprise statistics within Scotland can be accessed at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Business

Official statistics are produced in accordance with professional standards – more information on the standards of official statistics in Scotland can be accessed at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/About