Gross expenditure on research and development Scotland 2023

Data and methodology

Research and development (R&D) and related concepts used to produce the estimates included in this publication follow internationally agreed standards defined by the OECD, as published in the Frascati Manual 2015. GERD is the OECD's preferred measure of R&D activity for use in international comparisons.

R&D can be measured by the expenditure on R&D performed by an organisation, or the funding received by an organisation for R&D work. These are often, but not always, the same. Performance is used for these estimates because it is regarded as a more accurate measure than funding received, as not all funds received may be used as intended. This publication reports on R&D expenditure in UK organisations, irrespective of the country of residence of the ultimate owner or users of the R&D produced.

Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) comprises R&D undertaken by the Business Enterprise (BERD), Higher Education (HERD), Government (GovERD) and Private Non-Profit (PNP) sectors.

The majority of data in this publication is sourced from surveys conducted by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). Information on the methodology used to produce GERD estimates, and their components, can be found in the ONS’s Gross domestic expenditure on research and development, UK: 2023 publication.

Note that all values in this release are in current prices unless otherwise stated and therefore have not been adjusted for inflation.

Changes to ONS Research & Development Statistics

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been leading a redevelopment project for R&D statistics. The methodology for the business sector R&D spend (BERD) estimates and the source of the higher education sector R&D (HERD) spend have changed. The first set of changes were included in our GERD Scotland 2020 publication and our GERD Scotland 2021 publication used the improved methodologies. The methodology for BERD changed again for our GERD Scotland 2022 publication and is no longer consistent with that used in the GERD 2020 and GERD 2021 publications. This publication is the second to use the new methodology for BERD.

Whilst redevelopment work on R&D statistics was undertaken, ONS and the Scottish Government asked the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) to pause the Accredited Official Statistics status of their GERD and BERD statistics. Accredited Official Statistics status was re-introduced in 2024 for UK level GERD and BERD statistics only. All estimates below UK level, including those in this publication, continue to be classed as ‘Official Statistics’ until redevelopment work is complete. This aims to include the production of comparable time series for BERD and GERD below UK level.

Business sector R&D spend changes and impact on GERD

The methodology used to estimate business enterprise expenditure on R&D has been improved to better account for small businesses. Further information on the reasons behind the change can be found in the ONS’s  Comparison of ONS business enterprise research and development statistics with HMRC research and development tax credit statistics - Office for National Statistics article.

In the ONS and Scottish Government GERD 2021 publications (released in 2023), an interim uplift methodology was used to produce BERD estimates for 2018 to 2021, and therefore GERD estimates were provided that incorporated the interim BERD estimates. However, interim uplift method estimates below UK level are not consistent with the 2022 and 2023 estimates. Therefore they are not included in this publication. Consistent estimates for BERD and GERD below UK level for 2018 to 2021 are not yet available.

The 2022 BERD survey made further methodological improvements by introducing a new sample design and results methods. The new sample has increased the volume of survey data received and ensured that the BERD statistics better reflect business R&D performed in Scotland and the UK. The 2023 BERD survey also uses the new methodology. More information can be found in ONS’s Business enterprise research and development, UK: 2023 publication. ONS are aiming to develop a time series for business sector expenditure on R&D at a regional (i.e. below UK) level. Until this time series becomes available, we would advise users not to compare any of the regional 2022 or 2023 BERD or GERD estimates in this release with earlier years’ values published previously.

Higher education sector R&D spend

The R&D statistics redevelopment project has also improved the measurement of R&D performed in the higher education sector, by introducing a new data source: the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC). This data source was developed to help cost R&D activity within the higher education sector. The new data source was implemented from 2018 onwards and results produced using it were first released in 2022.

The ONS has estimated R&D expenditure for 2021 and 2022 in a small number of regions instead of using the TRAC data. This approach was taken because a small number of universities were either unable to submit their TRAC returns on time for inclusion in the TRAC results, or the returns were still under review. The estimated values calculated by the ONS only represent a small proportion of the overall total for the higher education sector.

UK country/region estimates 2023

Estimates of private non-profit (PNP) expenditure on R&D in 2023, and therefore GERD in 2023, are not available for England, Northern Ireland, Wales and the English regions of ‘North East’ and ‘Yorkshire and the Humber’. These estimates have been removed to protect confidentiality. They are included in UK totals

R&D spend as a share of GDP

The GDP series have not yet been adjusted to incorporate the recent improvements to the measurement of R&D. Therefore estimates of R&D spend as a percentage of GDP in this release should be treated as indicative only. It is also important to note that GDP was particularly low in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and was impacted by high inflation in 2022 and 2023.