India Lags Far Behind China, U.S. In R&D: Report

By siliconindia | Friday, 07 February 2014, 08:01 Hrs

At $208 billion of R&D expenditures in 2011, China is the world's second-largest R&D performer.

While this is less than half the U.S. level, the growth in China's R&D spending has averaged an exceptionally high 20.7 percent annually in 2001-11.

India's figure was a mere $24 billion in 2007, the latest available figure in the report.

Annual growth rate for U.S. R&D averaged 4.3 percent over the same period.

Corresponding average annual growth rates for the largest R&D countries of the EU (Germany, France, United Kingdom) are in the three percent to six percent range.

According to the report, the economies of East/Southeast and South Asia-including China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan-represented 25 percent of the global R&D total in 2001 but accounted for 34 percent in 2011.

China (15 percent) and Japan (10 percent) were the largest R&D performers in this group, it said.

After the United States and China, Japan with $147 billion is the third largest spender in R&D.

The largest EU performers spend comparatively less: Germany ($93 billion, seven percent), France ($52 billion, four percent), and the United Kingdom ($0 billion, three percent).

R&D spending by South Korea has also been rising in recent years and accounted for 4 percent ($60 billion) of the global total in 2011.

"Taken together, these top seven countries account for about 72 percent of total global R&D.

The Russian Federation, Taiwan, Brazil, Italy, Canada, India, Australia and Spain make up the next tier of performers, with total R&D expenditures ranging from $20 billion to $35 billion.

The top seven countries, along with the second group of eight economies, together account for 84% of current global R&D," the report added.

Source: PTI