South Korea Ranks 5th in R&D Spending... At 13% of U.S. Level

The Ratio of Research and Development Expenditure to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Stands at 4.64%, Ranking 2nd Worldwide

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] Last year, South Korea's research and development (R&D) expenditure ranked 5th among OECD countries. The ratio of R&D expenditure to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) also ranked 2nd worldwide. Although the ratio was close to Israel, which ranked 1st, the total R&D expenditure was about 13% of that of the United States, which ranked 1st in absolute terms.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced these results on the 9th based on last year's R&D activity survey. The analysis covered R&D expenditure and personnel status of 67,095 domestic institutions (public research institutes, universities, companies, etc.) according to OECD guidelines (Frascati Manual).

5th in the World for R&D Expenditure... About 13% of the U.S. Level

Trends in Total Research and Development Expenditure and R&D Expenditure as a Percentage of GDP in South Korea

Last year, South Korea's total R&D expenditure was 89.0471 trillion KRW (76.4 billion USD), an increase of 3.3184 trillion KRW (3.9%) compared to the previous year. It ranked 5th among OECD countries, but was about 13% of the U.S. amount (581.6 billion USD as of 2018). The ratio of R&D expenditure to GDP was also 2nd in the world, increasing by 0.12 percentage points from the previous year to 4.64%, similar to Israel's 4.94% (2018 data). The government noted that since other countries' statistics for last year have not yet been released, comparisons were made based on 2018 data.

In 2018, South Korea also ranked 5th in R&D expenditure and 2nd in R&D-to-GDP ratio. There was little change in the share of R&D expenditure by sector. Government and public sector accounted for 21.4% (19.0995 trillion KRW), private sector 76.9% (68.5216 trillion KRW), and foreign sources 1.6% (1.43 trillion KRW), with the private sector share being high. The ratio of government/public funds to private/foreign funds remained at 21:79, the same as the previous year.

However, the share of private funds in total R&D expenditure (76.9%) dropped from 1st place in 2018 to 2nd place globally. Japan took 1st place with 79.1%. Nevertheless, private-funded R&D expenditure increased by 4.8% from the previous year to 68.5216 trillion KRW (76.9%), contributing most to the overall increase in R&D expenditure. Government and public funds increased by 4.0% to 21.4%, while foreign funds decreased by 14% to 1.6% compared to the previous year.

The growth rate of private funds and the increase in corporate R&D expenditure also slowed. The growth rate of private funds dropped from 9.4% in 2018 to 4.3% last year. The corporate sector's growth rate also declined from 10% in 2018 to 3.9%.

Corporate R&D expenditure was 71.5067 trillion KRW (80.3%), with large enterprises accounting for the largest share at 62.5% (44.6658 trillion KRW). However, venture companies' R&D expenditure share (12.1%) surpassed that of small and medium-sized enterprises (11.2%). By industry, manufacturing R&D expenditure was the highest at 62.555 trillion KRW (87.5%).

Number of Female Researchers Lags Behind Advanced Countries

Comparison of Researchers by Country (Based on FTE)

Last year, the total number of researchers increased by 23,966 (4.7%) from the previous year to 538,136. Among them, the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) researchers increased by 22,320 (5.5%) to 430,690, ranking 5th worldwide. The number of researchers per 1,000 economically active population (FTE basis) was 15.4, and per 1,000 population (FTE basis) was 8.3, higher than major advanced countries.

However, the number of female researchers increased by 8,459 (8.1%) to 113,187 (21.0%), which was lower compared to major advanced countries such as the UK, Germany, and France, excluding Japan.

The per capita R&D expenditure used by these researchers (FTE basis) was 20.675 million KRW (177,396 USD), a decrease of 3.17 million KRW (1.5%) from the previous year. This was lower than major advanced countries except China (159,386 USD) and the UK (161,743 USD).

The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to publish a report including these details in January next year, making it easily accessible to research institutions, researchers, and the general public through the National Science and Technology Knowledge Information Service (NTIS) and the National Statistical Portal (KOSIS), and submit it to the OECD for use as comparative data among countries.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.