The Scottish Government

Business Expenditure and Employment on Research & Development 2006

• BERD expenditure in Scotland in 2006 was £579 million, 4% of the UK total of £14.3 billion.
• Expenditure decreased from £586 million the previous year (a 4% decrease in real terms), mainly due to a decrease in R&D expenditure in the Services sector.
• BERD expenditure was 0.56% of Scottish GDP in 2006, compared to 1.08% in the UK and 1.09% in the EU.
• Business R&D provided employment for 7,325 people in 2006.
• Over three quarters (75%) of R&D undertaken by businesses in Scotland was funded by UK businesses.
• The largest companies (400 employees and over) accounted for 75% of BERD expenditure.
• American owned firms undertook 53% of business R&D in Scotland, followed by Scottish owned firms (25%).

Gross Expenditure on Research & Development (GERD) 2005

• Gross R&D expenditure (GERD) in Scotland was £1,582 million in 2005, which is 7.5% of the UK total and an increase of £162 million since 2004.
• GERD was 1.61% of Scottish GDP in 2005, compared to 1.76% in the UK, 1.74% in the EU and 2.25% in the OECD.

Government Expenditure on Research & Development (GovERD) 2005

• Government expenditure on R&D was £308 million in 2005, 13.4% of the UK total and 0.31% of GDP.
• In comparison to other UK regions, Scotland ranks third in terms of GovERD as a percentage of GDP.

Higher Education Research & Development (HERD) 2005

• In 2005 Higher Education expenditure on R&D (HERD) was £688 million, 12.4% of the UK total and 0.70% of GDP.
• Scotland's HERD as a percentage of GDP ranked top out of all the UK regions, and ranks in the first quartile compared to OECD countries.