* indicates monthly or quarterly data series

Research and development expenditure, percent of GDP, 2021:

The average for 2021 based on 22 countries was 1.07 percent. The highest value was in Israel: 5.56 percent and the lowest value was in Iraq: 0.04 percent. The indicator is available from 1996 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Measure: percent; Source: The United Nations
Select indicator
* indicates monthly or quarterly data series


Countries Research and development expenditure, 2021 Global rank Available data
Israel 5.56 1 1996 - 2021
South Korea 4.93 2 1996 - 2021
Japan 3.3 3 1996 - 2021
China 2.43 4 1996 - 2021
UA Emirates 1.5 5 2011 - 2021
Thailand 1.21 6 1996 - 2021
Hong Kong 0.97 7 1998 - 2022
Qatar 0.68 8 2012 - 2021
Saudi Arabia 0.45 9 2003 - 2022
Vietnam 0.43 10 2002 - 2021
Macao 0.38 11 2001 - 2022
Oman 0.29 12 2011 - 2022
Georgia 0.25 13 1996 - 2022
Armenia 0.21 14 1997 - 2022
Azerbaijan 0.21 15 1996 - 2022
Pakistan 0.16 16 1997 - 2021
Burma 0.15 17 1997 - 2022
Kazakhstan 0.13 18 1997 - 2022
Uzbekistan 0.13 19 2000 - 2022
Mongolia 0.1 20 1997 - 2022
Kyrgyzstan 0.08 21 1997 - 2022
Iraq 0.04 22 2007 - 2021



Definition: Gross domestic expenditures on research and development (R&D), expressed as a percent of GDP. They include both capital and current expenditures in the four main sectors: Business enterprise, Government, Higher education and Private non-profit. R&D covers basic research, applied research, and experimental development.

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