Gross expenditure on research and development Scotland 2022

Data and methodology

Research and development (R&D) and related concepts used to produce the estimate included in this publication follow internationally agreed standards defined by the OECD, as published in the Frascati Manual 2015. GERD is the OECD's preferred measure of R&D activity for use in international comparisons.

R&D can be measured by the expenditure on R&D performed by an organisation, or the funding received by an organisation for R&D work. These are often, but not always, the same. Performance is regarded as a more accurate measure than funding received, as not all funds received may be used as intended. This bulletin reports on R&D expenditure in UK organisations, irrespective of the country of residence of the ultimate owner or users of the R&D produced.

Information on the methodology used to produce GERD estimates, and their components, can be found in the ONS’s Gross domestic expenditure on research and development, UK: 2022 publication.

Changes to ONS Research & Development Statistics

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been leading a redevelopment project for R&D statistics. The methodology for the business sector R&D spend (BERD) estimates and the source of the higher education sector R&D (HERD) spend have changed. The first set of changes were included in our GERD Scotland 2020 publication and our GERD Scotland 2021 publication used the improved methodologies. Whilst the source of HERD estimates remains the same for this publication, the methodology used for BERD has changed again and is no longer consistent with that in the GERD 2020 and GERD 2021 publications.

Whilst redevelopment work on R&D statistics was undertaken, ONS and the Scottish Government asked the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) to pause the Accredited Official Statistics status of their GERD and BERD statistics. Accredited Official Statistics status has now been re-introduced for UK level GERD and BERD statistics only. All estimates below UK level, including those in this publication, continue to be classed as ‘Official Statistics’ until redevelopment work is complete. This will include the production of comparable time series for BERD and GERD below UK level.

Business sector R&D spend

The methodology used to estimate business enterprise expenditure on R&D has been improved to better account for small businesses. Further information on the reasons behind the change can be found in the ONS’s  Comparison of ONS business enterprise research and development statistics with HMRC research and development tax credit statistics - Office for National Statistics article.

In the ONS and Scottish Government GERD 2021 publications (released in 2023), an interim uplift methodology was used to produce BERD estimates for 2018 to 2021, and therefore GERD estimates were provided that incorporated the interim BERD estimates. However, interim uplift method estimates below UK level are not consistent with the new 2022 estimates and therefore are not included in this publication. Consistent estimates for BERD and GERD below UK level for 2018 to 2021 are not yet available.

The 2022 BERD survey made further methodological improvements by introducing a new sample design and results methods. The new sample has increased the volume of survey data received and ensured that the BERD statistics better reflect business R&D performed in the UK. More information can be found in ONS’s Business enterprise research and development, UK: 2022 publication. ONS are compiling a time series for business sector expenditure on R&D at a regional (i.e. below UK) level. Until this time series becomes available, we would advise users not to compare any of the regional 2022 BERD or GERD estimates in this release with earlier years’ values published previously.

Higher education sector R&D spend

The R&D statistics redevelopment project has also improved the measurement of R&D performed in the higher education sector, by introducing a new data source: the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC). This data source was developed to help cost R&D activity within the higher education sector. The new data source was implemented from 2018 onwards and results produced using it were first released in 2022.

The ONS has estimated R&D expenditure in a small number of regions in place of the TRAC data. This approach was taken because a small number of universities were either unable to submit their TRAC returns on time for inclusion in the TRAC results, or the returns were still under review. The estimated values calculated by the ONS only represent a small proportion of the overall total for the higher education sector.

R&D spend as a share of GDP

The GDP series have not yet been adjusted to incorporate the recent improvements to the measurement of R&D. This should be borne in mind when considering the R&D spend as a share of GDP estimates in this release. It is also important to note that GDP was particularly low in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.