Spending on research and development up by 31% over 2009

During 2010, total expenditure on R&D activities amounted to €42 million, a significant increase of €10.2 million from 2009.

The business enterprise sector contributed 62.3 per cent to total R&D, whereas the higher education and government sectors contributed 34 per cent and 3.7 per cent respectively.

The higher outlay was driven by an increase in recurrent expenditure of €5.9 million, mainly as a result of higher labour costs and other recurrent expenditure in the business enterprise sector.

Moreover, more outlays on capital expenditure by €2.9 million were also recorded for the Higher Education sector, reflecting additional investment at the University of Malta in instruments and equipment and in land and buildings, mainly financed through EU funds.

Labour costs represented 64.1 per cent of total expenditure, whereas other recurrent expenditure and capital projects had a share of 24.1 per cent and 11.8 per cent respectively.

In 2010 the fields of engineering and technology and natural sciences recorded a substantial rise in R&D activity when compared to previous years, contributing 53.9 per cent and 33.6 per cent to the increase in total R&D expenditure. R&D expenditure related to engineering and technology accounted for 40.5 per cent of total expenditure, followed by natural sciences, with 28.2 per cent and medical sciences, with 13.1 per cent.

The majority of R&D activity in engineering and technology and natural sciences was undertaken by business enterprises whereas research in relation to social sciences was mainly carried out by the higher education sector.

In 2010, 1,836 employees were engaged in R&D work, of whom 1,117 dedicated part of their time to R&D. The highest R&D employment rate was registered for the higher education sector, at 933 employees, followed by the Business Enterprise sector, with 825 employees.

The highest employment activity in R&D was recorded in engineering and technology with 626 employees, followed by natural sciences and social sciences, with 407 and 299 employees respectively.

For 2011, the highest government outlays are recorded for R&D activities related to health (€3.2 million), industrial production and technology (€2.9 million) and culture, recreation, religion and media (€2.6 million).