Increase in 2016 R&D expenditures in Greece

Research & Development (R&D) constitutes 0.99% of GDP for 2016, continuing the upward trend of recent years, according to the provisional data (http://metrics.ekt.gr/el/node/346, in Greek) published by the National Documentation Centre (EKT) and transmitted to Eurostat. The publication of indicators is part of the regular production and publication of official statistics for Research, Development and Innovation in Greece, undertaken by EKT as an authorised body of the Greek Statistical System, in co-operation with the Hellenic Statistical Authority.

R&D expenditures for 2016 amounted to 1,733.1 million euros, an increase of 29.3 million euros compared to 2015. The ‘R&D Intensity’ indicator, which represents R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP, was 0.99% for 2016 as opposed to 0.97% for 2015.

For the first time in Greece, the biggest contributor to the indicator is the business enterprise sector, where there was R&D expenditure of 722.9 million euros (0.41% GDP). This was followed by the higher education sector, with expenditures of 566.6 million euros (0.32% GDP). Public sector expenditure was 428.9 million euros (0.25% GDP), while expenditures in the private non-profit institutions sector made the smallest contribution (14.8 million euros, 0.01% GDP).

Public funding remained the main source of funding for 2016 at 737.1 million euros which represented 42.5% of the total. Public funding supported R&D activities in all sectors of R&D and was the main source of funding for higher education and the public sector.  There was an increase in funds allocated from the ordinary budget (up by 95.4 million euros compared with 2015) and the national share of the Public Investment Programme (up by 24.4 million euros compared to 2015). The contribution of the NSRF 2014-2020, as far as R&D was concerned, during its first year of implementation was significantly lower, down by 287.6 million euros compared with 2015, the concluding year of the previous NSRF 2007-2013.

A significant increase was recorded for the second largest funding source, the business enterprise sector, which provided funds of 691 million euros (39.9%) for R&D activities in the country. The largest share, 633.7 million euros was invested in R&D performed by the businesses themselves, while the remainder funded R&D activities in the higher education sector (41.2 million euros), the public sector (14 million euros) and private non-profit institutions (2.2 million euros).

The third source of funding, the European Union, has increased during recent years due to the implementation of Horizon 2020, the current EU Programming Framework for Research and Innovation. In 2016, the EU provided 207.6 million euros (12.0%) for research projects in all sectors highlighting the high level of competitiveness of Greek organisations.

The aforementioned preliminary statistics for R&D expenditure in Greece 2016 will be finalised by June 2018 (European Regulation 995/2012).

Statistical data and indicators for Research, Development and Innovation in Greece, produced and published by EKT, are sent regularly to Eurostat and the OECD. Data analysis and extraction of relevant indicators are published in EKT’s printed and electronic publications which are available at http://metrics.ekt.gr/en.