Gross expenditure on research and development Scotland 2023

Key Points

This publication presents estimates of expenditure on research and development (R&D) performed in Scotland in 2023. It covers R&D in the business, higher education, government and private non-profit sectors. Comparisons with the UK and other countries are included.

• Gross Expenditure on Research & Development (GERD) performed in Scotland was estimated at £5.02 billion in 2023; 6.9% of the UK total spend
• between 2022 and 2023, Scotland’s GERD increased by £125 million in cash terms. However, due to high inflation, this cash increase meant that Scotland’s GERD fell by 3.4% in real, inflation-adjusted, terms in 2023
• in 2023, the business sector was the largest component of R&D spend, at £2.70 billion (53.8% of Scotland’s GERD); this was followed by the higher education sector at £1.95 billion (38.9% of Scotland’s GERD)
• estimated at 2.50%, Scotland’s GERD as a share of GDP ranked in the second quartile of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in 2023, above the EU (2.13%) but below the UK (2.64%) and the OECD (2.70%)
• estimated at 1.34%, Scotland’s Business Enterprise R&D expenditure as a share of GDP ranked in the second quartile of the OECD countries in 2023, below the EU (1.41%), the UK (1.82%) and the OECD (1.99%)
• estimated at 0.97%, Scotland’s Higher Education R&D expenditure as a share of GDP ranked in the top quartile of the OECD countries in 2023, above the OECD (0.43%), EU (0.46%) and UK (0.62%)