The Human Truth Foundation

Which Countries Do the Most Research and Development?

http://www.humantruth.info/research_and_development.html

By Vexen Crabtree 2016

#countries #denmark #finland #israel #japan #politics #research #science #south_korea #sweden #taiwan

Research and Development is a long-term boost to Human understanding: science improves our knowledge of the world, and new products such as better batteries for devices can improve our quality of lives. The world needs discoveries to help combat climate change, mitigate starvation and fight disease. The ten countries that commit most to Research and Development (as a percent of their GDP PPP) are mostly predictable; Japan, Finland, Sweden and Denmark top most developmental indices of any kind. Also in the list can be found technologically savvy South Korea and Taiwan and a few well-developed European countries. The only surprise (for some) is Israel, sitting 2nd in the list.

The Social and Moral Development Index concentrates on moral issues and human rights, violence, public health, equality, tolerance, freedom and effectiveness in climate change mitigation and environmentalism, and on some technological issues. A country scores higher for achieving well in those areas, and for sustaining that achievement in the long term. Those countries towards the top of this index can truly said to be setting good examples and leading humankind onwards into a bright, humane, and free future. See: Which are the Best Countries in the World? The Social and Moral Development Index. This Research and Development data forms one of the inputs into the Social and Moral Development Index calculations.

This data comes from the UN's World Bank (via UNESCO) and from the OECD - I've used whichever data is the latest. Where both institutions produce data for the same countries, their values are generally very similar. In addition, their definitions of R&D are also similar, as below:

Gross domestic spending on R&D is defined as the total expenditure (current and capital) on R&D carried out by all resident companies, research institutes, university and government laboratories, etc., in a country. It includes R&D funded from abroad, but excludes domestic funds for R&D performed outside the domestic economy.

OECD (2016)1

Expenditures for research and development are current and capital expenditures (both public and private) on creative work undertaken systematically to increase knowledge, including knowledge of humanity, culture, and society, and the use of knowledge for new applications. R&D covers basic research, applied research, and experimental development.

World Bank (2012)2

Full results of all countries' Research and Development Expenditure as a Percent of GDP PPP:

Research & Development (2016)
Pos.Higher is better
% RDP PPP
1S. Korea4.293
2Israel4.113
3Japan3.583
4Finland3.173
5Sweden3.163
6Denmark3.053
7Taiwan3.013
8Austria3.004
9Switzerland2.965
10Germany2.843
11USA2.746
12Belgium2.463
13Slovenia2.393
14France2.263
15Australia2.257
16Singapore2.006
17Czechia2.003
18Netherlands1.973
19Iceland1.893
20Norway1.703
21UK1.703
22Canada1.613
23Ireland1.523
24Estonia1.433
25Hungary1.373
26Italy1.293
27Portugal1.283
28Luxembourg1.263
29Spain1.223
30Russia1.193
31New Zealand1.176
32Brazil1.155
33Malaysia1.135
34Turkey1.013
35Lithuania0.958
36Poland0.943
37Slovakia0.893
38Malta0.898
39Greece0.843
40India0.827
41Croatia0.818
42Kenya0.799
43Ukraine0.768
q=126.
Research & Development (2016)
Pos.Higher is better
% RDP PPP
44Morocco0.739
45S. Africa0.735
46Serbia0.738
47Hong Kong0.735
48Tunisia0.685
49Egypt0.688
50Belarus0.678
51Mali0.669
52Bulgaria0.658
53Ethiopia0.618
54Latvia0.608
55Gabon0.5810
56Argentina0.586
57Mexico0.543
58Senegal0.549
59UAE0.497
60Uganda0.489
61Cyprus0.488
62Costa Rica0.477
63Qatar0.475
64Cuba0.478
65Macedonia0.448
66Puerto Rico0.448
67Jordan0.4311
68Mozambique0.429
69Thailand0.397
70Tanzania0.389
71Romania0.383
72Montenegro0.388
73Chile0.383
74Ghana0.389
75Moldova0.358
76Ecuador0.347
77Bosnia & Herzegovina0.338
78Iran0.319
79Nepal0.309
80Kuwait0.308
81Pakistan0.298
82Zambia0.2811
83Botswana0.255
84Armenia0.248
85Sudan0.2312
86Uruguay0.235
q=126.
Research & Development (2016)
Pos.Higher is better
% RDP PPP
87Mongolia0.238
88Bermuda0.238
89Togo0.225
90Nigeria0.2212
91Azerbaijan0.218
92Burkina Faso0.2010
93Vietnam0.197
94Panama0.187
95Mauritius0.185
96Oman0.178
97Kazakhstan0.178
98Bolivia0.1610
99Kyrgyzstan0.167
100Sri Lanka0.169
101Albania0.1511
102Namibia0.149
103Georgia0.1313
104Gambia0.137
105Tajikistan0.128
106Burundi0.127
107Madagascar0.117
108Philippines0.1112
109Myanmar (Burma)0.1114
110Peru0.1015
111Paraguay0.095
112Congo, DR0.0816
113Indonesia0.088
114Saudi Arabia0.0710
115Algeria0.0715
116Cape Verde0.077
117Trinidad & Tobago0.055
118Macau0.058
119Honduras0.0414
120Guatemala0.045
121Bahrain0.048
122Colombia0.048
123Iraq0.037
124El Salvador0.035
125China0.038
126Lesotho0.017
q=126.