Malta’s research spending up by €40 million in 9 years

Malta’s expenditure on research and development has increased from €46 million to €64 million between 2004 and 2013, Eurostat figures show. It’s intensity has increased by 0.36% to 0.85% of the GDP- a lower figure than all EU member states except Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Romania, and Slovakia. The EU average expenditure on research and development is at 2.02% of GDP, up from 1.76% in 2004.

54% of Malta’s research and development expenditure is in the business enterprise sector, 10% in the government sector and 31% in the higher education sector. Expenditure in the latter sector has increased significantly from 10% in 2004.

In 2013, the EU28 member states spent almost €275 on research and development. However, at 2.03%, the mean R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP remained lowe in the EU than in South Korea (4.04% in 2011), Japan (3.38% in 2011) and the United States (2.81% in 2012). Yet it remains higher than China (1.98% in 2012) and Russia (1.11%).