The Northern Ireland R&D figures for 2013 have just been published by DETI in their Annual Statistics Bulletin.
This bulletin provides information on the level of Research & Development (R&D) activity in Northern Ireland. R&D activity contributes to the development of new technologies, products and processes and is a key driver of productivity growth. The Northern Ireland R&D surveys cover the business sector, higher education and other government financed activities.
The main messages this year were:
- A total of £645.1m was spent on R&D in Northern Ireland in 2013. Of this, £481.8m (75%) was spent by businesses, £147m (22%) by the Higher Education sector and the rest (£16.3m or 3%) was Government expenditure. Northern Ireland’s total R&D expenditure increased by £21m (3%) between 2012 and 2013, driven by the business sector.
- Northern Ireland businesses spent £481.8m on R&D expenditure in 2013 – up £20.5m (4%) on the previous year. Between 2008 and 2013, business R&D spend has risen by 162% from £183.9m.
- In-house business R&D spend rose by 5.5% between 2012 and 2013 – the ninth highest percentage increase of the 12 UK regions. Eleven of the UK regions showed an increase in cash terms over this period.
- Government R&D spend rose by £0.8m (5%), while Higher Education expenditure decreased slightly – £0.3m (-0.2%) over the year.
- The ten biggest spending companies accounted for 60% of the total R&D spend in Northern Ireland in 2013, a little lower than in 2012 (63%).
- Externally owned companies accounted for 75% of Business R&D expenditure compared to 25% by locally owned companies. R&D spend by locally owned companies reported an annual increase of 16%.
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), that is, businesses with less than 250 employees, spent £1m (0.6%) more on R&D from 2012 to 2013. Since 2008 SME R&D spend has increased by 64% to £173.8m.
We’ve produced an infographic of the headline figures below.
Key figures from the 2013 BERD statistical report