Greek R&D expenditures and personnel increased in 2020

In 2020, Research & Development (R&D) expenditure was 1.5% of GDP, according to the final statistics published by the National Documentation Centre (EKT), as National Authority of the Hellenic Statistical System competent for European Research, Development and Innovation statistics.

In 2020, the year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the economy, expenditure incurred for R&D in Greece was 2,494,20 mil. euro, increased by 156,5 mil. euro in comparison with 2019 (a growth rate of 6.7%).

Based on a 6.7% increase in R&D expenditure and a decrease of 9.8% in GDP in Greece in 2020, the ‘R&D Intensity indicator, which represents R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP, came to 1.51% from 1.28% in 2019.

The results of EKT’s statistical survey, carried out in 2021 on organisations with Research and Development activities in the four activity sectors: business sector (BES), higher education sector (HES), government sector (GOV) and private non-profit institutions (PNP) are available in the ‘Key Indicators for Research & Development Expenditure and Personnel in Greece 2020’ publication at (https://metrics.ekt.gr/publications/579).

In 2020, businesses carried out R&D expenditure of 1,149.88 mil. euro (0.70% of GDP), showing an increase of 6.7% in comparison to 2019, and continuing to make the largest contribution to the R&D expenditure indicator.

The higher education sector carried out R&D expenditure of 792.62 mil. euro (0.48% of GDP), showing an increase of 10/7% in relation to 2019.

The government sector carried out R&D expenditure of 537.24 mil. euro (0.32% of GDP), showing an increase of 2.5% compared to 2019.

The private non-profit institutions sector made a smaller contribution (14.46 mil. euro, 0.01% of GDP) indicating a decrease compared with 2019.

In terms of funding for R&D expenditure in 2020, the government provided the largest source of funding with 1,064.25 mil. euro (42.7% of the total), through the ordinary budget (676.90 mil. euro), NSRF 2014-2020 (251.34 mil. euro) and other government sources (Regions, national part of Public Investment Programme) (136.00 mil. euro).

The ordinary budget showed an increase of 2.4%, from €660.97 million in 2019 to €676.90 million in 2020, and financed R&D expenditure in the higher education sector (€369.53 million) and the government sector (307.37 million euros). The NSRF showed an increase of 24.2%, from 202.40 million euros in 2019 to 251.34 million euros in 2020, and financed R&D expenditure in businesses (82.56 million euros), in the higher education sector (90 .21 million euros), in the government sector (77.67 million euros) and in the sector of private non-profit institutions (0.90 million euros).

Other government sources showed an increase of 38.2%, from €98.42 million in 2019 to €136.00 million in 2020, and financed R&D expenditure in the higher education sector (€71.38 million), the government sector (61.20 million euros), businesses (3.18 million euros), and the sector of private non-profit institutions (0.24 million euros).

The second largest source of funding for R&D spending in 2020 was business, with €996.38 million (39.9% of the total), up 2.9% on 2019. The majority, 925, 92 million euros, invested in R&D carried out by the businesses themselves. The remainder funded R&D in the higher education sector (€51.80 million), the government sector (€17.07 million) and the private non-profit sector (€1.59 million).

The European Union is the third largest source of R&D funding, with €277.58 million (11.1% of the total), an increase of 6.3% compared to 2019. The EU funded R&D in all sectors, business sector (€83.23 million), the higher education sector (€128.62 million), the government sector (€61.86 million) and the private non-profit sector (€3.87 million).

The increase in R&D spending in 2020 was accompanied by an increase in employment in R&D activities. The number of Full Employment Equivalents (FTEs), which equate to full-time ‘positions’ compared to 2019, increased by 7.7% for total R&D personnel and by 9.9% for researchers. Total R&D personnel in 2020 amounted to 58,103 full-time positions (FTEs) and researchers to 42,949 FTEs. The highest employment in R&D is recorded in the higher education sector.

The statistics and indicators for Research, Development and Innovation in Greece concern European statistics and are produced by the National Documentation Centre, the competent national authority of the Hellenic Statistical System. They are the official national data transmitted to and published by Eurostat and the OECD. They are also available from EKT in printed and electronic forms and datatables on the website  http://metrics.ekt.gr.

The survey recording R&D expenditure and personnel is carried out under Sub-project 5 ‘Production of RIS3 indicators for the years 2016-2023’ for the Action ’Installation of a Monitoring Mechanism for the implementation of the national RIS3 strategy - Collection and processing of Indicators’, which is implemented by the National Documentation Centre within the framework of the Operational Programme ‘Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship & Innovation (NSRF 2014-2020)' with the co-financing of Greece and the European Union-European Regional Development Fund.