Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

The OECD's ANalytical Business Enterprise Research and Development (ANBERD) database presents annual data on Research and Development (R&D) expenditures by industry and was developed to provide analysts with comprehensive data on business R&D expenditures. The ANBERD database incorporates a number of estimations that build upon and extend national submissions of business enterprise R&D data by industry (main activity/industry orientation). The current version of the ANBERD database presents OECD countries' and selected non-member economies' business expenditure on R&D since 1987, broken down across 100 manufacturing and service industry groups. The reported data follow the International Standard Industrial Classification, Revision 4 (ISIC Rev. 4) and are expressed in national currencies as well as in US dollars at Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), both at current and constant prices.   Main activity and industry orientation: The 2015 Frascati Manual practice is to report BERD on an enterprise basis. The main economic activity of an enterprise is usually defined as that which accounts for most of its economic outputs; this may be identified directly from sales or indirectly proxied (such as by numbers of personnel devoted to different activities). This determines the industry in which the enterprise, and any BERD it carries out, is classified. As such, all BERD of a diversified enterprise (i.e. one with multiple lines of business) is allocated to the same industry, that of its main activity. This enables, as far as possible, the alignment and compatability of BERD data with other economic statistics (e.g. value added broken down by industry). In addition, the Frascati Manual also recommends reporting BERD by industry orientation, whereby the statistical unit’s R&D is distributed across the various lines of business to which it relates. In a few countries, hybrid approaches are followed and reported as main activity data. As an example, some countries primarily follow the main activity approach but redistribute the R&D of large diversified firms across the economic activities to which it relates. This can affect interpretation of the data and resulting statistics. There are also important differences between countries in the treatment of R&D undertaken by firms in the service sector but closely associated (though not necessarily contractually) with manufacturing firms. Industrial research institutes, largely funded by the manufacturing industries they serve, are the most frequent examples. With the implementation of the 2015 Frascati Manual, such hybrid data will be phased out in favour of a strict main activity approach. Countries still reporting hybrid data are flagged in the ANBERD country notes.

Data are provided in million national currency (for the euro zone, pre-EMU euro or EUR), million current PPP USD and million constant USD (2000 prices and PPPs). Variables collected This table presents research and development (R&D) expenditure statistics performed in the business enterprise sector by industry according to the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) revision 3.1. and by type of costs (current expenditure, capital expenditure). Data at the industry level are presented beginning 1987, year when most of the countries converted from ISIC rev.2 to the current ISIC rev. 3 classification. This breakdown between industries is, in principle, made at the enterprise level, although some countries are able to break down R&D data for multi product enterprises between their main lines of business. National statistical regulations prevent publication of results where there are very few firms in the given category, hence the many gaps in the tables. Depending on the country, R&D institutes serving enterprises are either classified with the industry concerned, or grouped under “Research and Development” (ISIC rev.3.1, Division 73). When these R&D institutes are classified with the industry served, the evaluation of R&D in these industries is more complete and more comparable between countries for the industries concerned. This results, however, in an underestimation of the percentage of BERD performed by the service sector as compared with other countries. The Frascati Manual recommendation concerning data on R&D by industry is to report BERD on an enterprise basis (see FM section 3.4). When this is interpreted strictly, all the BERD of a diversified enterprise will be allocated to the industrial class of its principal activity. In circumstances where a few large firms dominate R&D spending in several areas, this can and does lead to underestimates of R&D associated with the secondary activities of the firms. Overall, R&D is therefore overestimated for some industries and underestimated for others. However, not all countries follow a strict enterprise basis for allocating R&D expenditures to industrial classes. Some countries make a disaggregation of the R&D of their largest, diversified firms into a number of different activities. In other countries, the enterprise approach has been abandoned and data are reported on a product field basis. This is why two classification criteria for BERD by industry are included in the table “BERD by industry” (see the variable CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA: Main activity or Product field) depending on which approach is more closely followed by each country (only a few countries currently collect these data both ways and are therefore included according to both criteria). However, this table “BERD by industry and type of costs” and the preceding one “BERD by industry and source of funds” present data for only one of the criteria, depending on the country.

Data are provided in million national currency (for the euro zone, pre-EMU euro or EUR), million current PPP USD and million constant USD (2005 prices and PPPs). Variables collected This table presents research and development (R&D) expenditure statistics performed in the business enterprise sector by industry according to the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) revision 3.1. and by source of funds (business enterprise, government, other national funds, and funds from abroad). Data at the industry level are presented beginning 1987, year when most of the countries converted from ISIC rev.2 to the current ISIC rev. 3 classification. This breakdown between industries is, in principle, made at the enterprise level, although some countries are able to break down R&D data for multi product enterprises between their main lines of business. National statistical regulations prevent publication of results where there are very few firms in the given category, hence the many gaps in the tables. Depending on the country, R&D institutes serving enterprises are either classified with the industry concerned, or grouped under “Research and Development” (ISIC rev.3.1, Division 73). When these R&D institutes are classified with the industry served, the evaluation of R&D in these industries is more complete and more comparable between countries for the industries concerned. This results, however, in an underestimation of the percentage of BERD performed by the service sector as compared with other countries. The Frascati Manual recommendation concerning data on R&D by industry is to report BERD on an enterprise basis (see FM section 3.4). When this is interpreted strictly, all the BERD of a diversified enterprise will be allocated to the industrial class of its principal activity. In circumstances where a few large firms dominate R&D spending in several areas, this can and does lead to underestimates of R&D associated with the secondary activities of the firms. Overall, R&D is therefore overestimated for some industries and underestimated for others. However, not all countries follow a strict enterprise basis for allocating R&D expenditures to industrial classes. Some countries make a disaggregation of the R&D of their largest, diversified firms into a number of different activities. In other countries, the enterprise approach has been abandoned and data are reported on a product field basis. This is why two classification criteria for BERD by industry are included in the table “BERD by industry” (see the variable CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA: Main activity or Product field) depending on which approach is more closely followed by each country (only a few countries currently collect these data both ways and are therefore included according to both criteria). However, this table “BERD by industry and source of funds” and the one that follows, “BERD by industry and type of costs” present data for only one of the criteria, depending on the country.

This table presents research and development (R&D) statistics on personnel in the business enterprise sector. Measured in full-time equivalent are the number of total R&D personnel and researchers in the business enterprise sector by industry according to the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) revision 3.1. Data at the industry level are presented beginning 1987, year when most of the countries converted from ISIC rev.2 to the current ISIC rev. 3 classification.

The OECD Science, Technology and Industry Outlook 2012 presents, in a series of country profiles, the main features, strengths and weaknesses of national STI systems and major recent changes in national STI policy. The statistical dimension of the country profiles has drawn on the work and empirical research conducted by the OECD on the measurement of innovation and the development of internationally comparable STI indicators for policy analysis.   

Data are provided in million national currency (for the euro zone, pre-EMU euro or EUR), million current PPP USD and million constant USD (2010 prices and PPPs). Variables collected This table presents research and development (R&D) expenditure statistics. Data include gross domestic R&D expenditure by sector of performance (business enterprise, government, higher education, private non-profit, and total intramural) and by type of costs (current expenditures: labour costs, other current costs; and capital expenditures: land and buildings, and instruments and equipment).

Patents are a key measure of innovation output, as patent indicators reflect the inventive performance of countries, regions, technologies, firms, etc. They are also used to track the level of diffusion of knowledge across technology areas, countries, sectors, firms, etc., and the level of internationalisation of innovative activities. Patent indicators can serve to measure the output of R&D, its productivity, structure and the development of a specific technology/industry. Among the few available indicators of technology output, patent indicators are probably the most frequently used. The relationship between patents as an intermediate output resulting from R&D inputs has been investigated extensively. Patents are often interpreted as an output indicator; however, they could also be viewed as an input indicator, as patents are used as a source of information by subsequent inventors. Like any other indicator, patent indicators have many advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of patent indicators are : patents have a close link to invention; patents cover a broad range of technologies on which there are sometimes few other sources of data; the contents of patent documents are a rich source of information (on the applicant, inventor, technology category, claims, etc.); and patent data are readily available from patent offices. However, patents are subject to certain drawbacks: the value distribution of patents is skewed as many patents have no industrial application (and hence are of little value to society) whereas a few are of substantial value; many inventions are not patented because they are not patentable or inventors may protect the inventions using other methods, such as secrecy, lead time, etc.; the propensity to patent differs across countries and industries; differences in patent regulations make it difficult to compare counts across countries; and changes in patent law over the years make it difficult to analyse trends over time.

This biannual publication provides a set of indicators that reflect the level and structure of the efforts undertaken by OECD member countries and seven non-member economies (Argentina, People's Republic of China, Romania, Russian Federation, Singapore, South Africa, Chinese Taipei) in the field of science and technology. These data include final or provisional results as well as forecasts established by government authorities. The indicators cover the resources devoted to research and development, patent families, technology balance of payments and international trade in R&D-intensive industries. Also presented are the underlying economic series used to calculate these indicators. Indicators on R&D expenditures, budgets and personnel are derived from the OECD's Research and Development Statistics (RDS) database, which is based on the data reported to OECD and Eurostat in the framework of a co-ordinated collection. The sources for the other indicators include the OECD databases on Activities of Multinational Enterprises (AMNE), on Bilateral Trade in Goods by Industry and End-use Category database (BTDIxE), on Patents and on Technological Balance of Payments (TBP). The R&D data used in this publication have been collected and presented in line with the standard OECD methodology for R&D statistics as laid out in the OECD "Frascati Manual". The 2002 edition of the manual has now been superseded by the 2015 edition. The revised guidelines and definitions are in the course of being implemented and are not expected to change the main indicators significantly although some terminology changes will occur. This edition of MSTI has been compiled in accordance with the 2002 Frascati Manual; these changes will be made in a coming edition as R&D surveys move to the new standard.   2018 values are estimated value.

Patents are a key measure of innovation output, as patent indicators reflect the inventive performance of countries, regions, technologies, firms, etc. They are also used to track the level of diffusion of knowledge across technology areas, countries, sectors, firms, etc., and the level of internationalisation of innovative activities. Patent indicators can serve to measure the output of R&D, its productivity, structure and the development of a specific technology/industry. The relationship between patents as an intermediate output resulting from R&D inputs has been investigated extensively. Patents are often interpreted as an output indicator; however, they could also be viewed as an input indicator, as patents are used as a source of information by subsequent inventors. Like any other indicator, patent indicators have many advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of patent indicators are :patents have a close link to invention;patents cover a broad range of technologies on which there are sometimes few other sources of data;the contents of patent documents are a rich source of information (on the applicant, inventor, technology category, claims, etc.); andpatent data are readily available from patent offices. However, patents are subject to certain drawbacks:the value distribution of patents is skewed as many patents have no industrial application (and hence are of little value to society) whereas a few are of substantial value;many inventions are not patented because they are not patentable or inventors may protect the inventions using other methods, such as secrecy, lead time, etc.;the propensity to patent differs across countries and industries;differences in patent regulations make it difficult to compare counts across countries; andchanges in patent law over the years make it difficult to analyse trends over time. 

This table contains research and development (R&D) expenditure statistics on current domestic R&D and gross domestic R&D expenditures by sector of performance (business enterprise, government, higher education, private non-profit, and total intramural) and by type of R&D within each sector (basic research, applied research, experimental development, non-specified, and total activity). Unit of measure used - Data are provided in million national currency (for the euro zone, pre-EMU euro or EUR), million current PPP USD and million constant USD (2005 prices and PPPs).

These tables present research and development (R&D) personnel statistics for : - Total R&D personnel by sector of employment and field of science, in full-time equivalent on R&D; - Researchers by sex, sector of employment and field of science, in full-time equivant on R&D; - Researchers by sex, sector of employment and field of science, in headcounts. Sectors of employment are business enterprise, government, higher education, private non-profit and total. Breakdown by field of science includes natural sciences, engineering, medical sciences, agricultural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

This table presents research and development (R&D) personnel statistics. Number of R&D personnel is provided in headcounts and/or full-time equivalent on R&D by sex, sector of employment (business enterprise, government, higher education, and private non-profit) and by formal qualification (university and other diplomas by ISCED classification). Unit of measure used - Headcounts and/or Full-time equivalent on R&D (FTE)