SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE/MADRID, Nov. 28 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Last year, the Canary Islands were at the bottom of the autonomous communities in per capita spending on R&D with a total of 122.8 euros, only ahead of the autonomous cities of Ceuta (48.2) and Melilla (70.8). ).
This is reflected in the Statistics on R&D Activities 2022, prepared by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) based on data from 45,000 companies, 557 public administration centers (includes public hospitals), 86 universities, 109 higher education centers. and 172 private non-profit institutions.
However, spending on the islands increased by 13.9% over the previous year to reach 271.5 million, 1.4% of the national total, while personnel increased by 5.2% to 4,216 people. .
In total, spending in Spain on internal Research and Development (R&D) amounted to 19,325 million euros in 2022, which represented an increase of 12% compared to the previous year. This expense represented 1.44% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), compared to 1.41% in 2021.
By execution sectors, the Business sector represented the highest percentage of spending on internal R&D, with 56.4% (which meant 0.81% of GDP). The Higher Education sector followed, with 26% (0.37% of GDP).
For its part, spending on internal R&D in the Public Administration sector accounted for 17.2% of national spending (0.25% of GDP). The remaining 0.3% corresponded to the Private Non-Profit Institutions (IPSFL) sector.
Spending on R&D increased by 12.4% compared to the previous year in the Business sector, 9.6% in Higher Education and 14.4% in Public Administration.
Internal R&D activities were financed in 2022, mainly by the Business sector (49.3% of the total) and the Public Administration (37.7%). Funds from the Rest of the world (8.5%), Higher Education (3.7%) and IPSFLs (0.8%) completed the financing.
By execution sectors, spending on internal R&D of the Public Administration and Higher Education was financed, mainly, by the Public Administration (80.0% and 71.3%, respectively). For its part, the financing of internal R&D spending in the Business sector came 82.1% from the sector itself.
A total of 263,407 people in full-time equivalent (FTE) were dedicated to internal R&D activities in 2022, which represented 12.9 per thousand of the total employed population and an increase of 5.6% compared to the year former.
The group of researchers reached the figure of 161,751 people in full-time equivalent, which represented 7.9 per thousand of the total employed population and an increase of 4.9% compared to 2021. 40.8% of the staff in Internal R&D in full-time equivalent were women.
The highest percentages of female participation occurred in the Public Administration (54.5% of total employment) and in the IPSFL (51.3%). In Higher Education this percentage stood at 46.5%, while in the Business sector it was 31.6%.
THE HIGHEST GROWTH RATE IN INTERNAL R&D EXPENDITURE IN LA RIOJA
The autonomous communities with the highest growth rates in internal R&D spending in 2022 were La Rioja (26.7%), Catalonia (18.2%) and Aragón (15.6%).
On the contrary, internal R&D spending decreased in Castilla-La Mancha (-7.6%) and registered its smallest increases in Cantabria (4.0%) and Comunidad Foral de Navarra (5.1%).
In per capita terms, spending on internal R&D amounted to 402 euros per inhabitant in 2022. The communities with the highest spending were the Basque Country (798.9 euros), the Community of Madrid (749.1) and Catalonia (611.3 ).
Companies in the Services sector concentrated 52.1% of spending on internal corporate R&D in 2022, while those in Industry represented 46.2%.
By branches of activity, R&D Services (with 18.8% of the total), Programming, consulting and other IT activities (12%) and Motor Vehicles (11%) stood out.
MODERATE INCREASE IN THE WEIGHT OF R&D IN THE SPANISH ECONOMY
For the Cotec Foundation, the “notable jump” in the level of investment in internal R&D translated, however, into a “moderate” increase in the weight of R&D in the Spanish economy, since the investment ratio in R&D over GDP increased only three hundredths, to stand at 1.44%. The explanation, according to the foundation, is that in 2022 nominal GDP also grew significantly, up to 10.2%.
The foundation adds that the strong growth of R&D “does not allow us to be optimistic either” with the objective set by the Spanish Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy of placing the Spanish economy at an investment in R&D over GDP of 2.12 % by 2027, advancing convergence with the European Union.
According to Cotec calculations, to achieve the Strategy’s objective, five consecutive growth rates of 13% on an annual average would have to be chained starting in 2023, something that, in its opinion, becomes “particularly unlikely” given the dependence on growth of Next Generation EU funds, which “will not always be available”.
In practically all of the European countries for which there are already Eurostat figures – all except Hungary and Italy – growth in R&D investment is observed in 2022. Of them, eight grow more in Spain.
As already happened in 2021, the largest increases are observed in the Eastern European countries, led by Croatia (+34%), Bulgaria (+20%), Slovakia (+17%) and Latvia (+17%).
In any case, Spain is the country that grows the most in investment in R&D among the main European economies. Germany (+7%), France (0%) and Italy (-0.1%) grow less than Spain (+12%). Furthermore, Spain is once again ahead of Italy in R&D investment intensity (1.44% of GDP) (which drops from 1.43% to 1.33% in one year).
Spain improves its position in the ranking, up to 16th place, slightly above Croatia (which invests 1.43% of its GDP in R&D). In any case, both Italy and Spain present an R&D investment intensity lower than the European average and significantly lower than Portugal (1.71%), a country that overtook Spain in 2008 and Italy in 2020.
