Statistics on R&D Activities. 2021

Infographic

(In catalan)

In-house R&D expenditure conducted in Catalonia amounted to 4,078.7 million euros in 2021, an increase of 12.7% in expenditure over the previous year. This figure accounted for 1.67% of GDP. By sector of performance, the business enterprise sector accounted for 61.0% of expenditure (1.02% of GDP), followed by the higher education sector, which accounted for 21.9% of R&D expenditure (0.35% of GDP). The Public Administration deployed 15.2% of expenditure (0.30% of GDP), while the private non-profit (PNP) sector accounted for the remaining 0.5%.

Funding for in-house R&D expenditure allocated in Catalonia came mainly from the business enterprise sector (58.1%) and the Public Administration (28.7%). A total of 8.5% of expenditure was financed by funds from the rest of the world, while 3.1% originated from the higher education sector, and the remaining 1.6% came from PNPs. By sector of performance, funding for the in-house R&D expenditure of the Public Administration and higher education came mostly from the Public Administration (66.8% and 68.6%, respectively). In the business sector, almost all funding of in-house R&D expenditure came from the business enterprise sector itself (89,4%), while the funding for PNPs was more diverse, 44,6% came from the business enterprise sector.

In terms of personnel, in-house R&D activities carried out in Catalonia employed a total of 55,885.0 people in full-time equivalent (FTE) employment, a figure that is 10.1% higher than in 2020. By occupation, 31,579.2 of those employed were researchers (56.5% of the total), 18,317.6 were technicians and the remaining 5,988.1 were internal R&D support staff. Of the total personnel in FTE employment assigned to these R&D activities, 41.4% were women, and the proportion of women among research staff was 38.6%. By sector of performance, the highest percentages of female participation among research staff were in the sectors of Public Administration and PNPs, with 47.6% and 46.3%, respectively. In the higher education and business enterprise sectors, this figure was 41.6% and 31.7%, respectively.