Gross expenditure on research and development Scotland 2022

Expenditure and components of GERD

In 2022, Scotland’s Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) was estimated at £4.9 billion, 6.9% of total UK GERD.

The largest components of R&D expenditure in Scotland in 2022 were the business sector, at £2.7 billion (56.1% of GERD), followed by the higher education sector, at £1.9 billion (38.3% of GERD).

Figure 1: Business enterprise R&D (BERD) expediture accounted for the majority of GERD in all UK countries/regions in 2022. Business enterprise R&D (BERD) expediture accounted for 56.1% of GERD in Scotland, the second lowest share amongst the countries/regions.

Composition of GERD, by UK country/region, 2022.

Source: Gross expenditure on research and development Scotland 2022 - tables. For Figure 1 data see Tables 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

The estimate of GERD as a share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2022 was 2.58% for Scotland, compared to 2.77% for the UK as a whole. Scotland ranked 5th out of the 12 UK countries/regions for GERD as a share of GDP. East of England had the highest GERD as a percentage of GDP (5.96%) and Wales the lowest (1.87%).

Business enterprise R&D (BERD) expenditure as a share of GDP was estimated to be 1.45% for Scotland in 2022, compared to 1.96% for the UK as a whole. BERD spend in Scotland accounted for 5.5% of total UK BERD spend in 2022. Scotland ranked 9th out of the 12 UK countries/regions in terms of BERD spend as a percentage of GDP. East of England was highest, at 5.00%, and the North East was lowest, at 1.02%.

Higher education R&D (HERD) expenditure as a share of GDP was estimated to be 0.99% for Scotland in 2022, compared to 0.64% for the UK as a whole. HERD spend in Scotland accounted for 11.5% of total UK HERD spend. Scotland ranked top out of the 12 UK countries/regions in terms of HERD spend as a share of GDP. Northern Ireland was lowest at 0.49%.