R&D trends

R&D expenditure in Northern Ireland is growing but a significant drop in higher education spending is a cause for concern.

The most recent Northern Ireland Research and Development Survey (covering 2012) outlined R&D investment by the business sector, higher education establishments and the public sector. R&D activity signals future economic development and is a key driver of productivity growth.

Total expenditure was £461.3 million. Businesses accounted for 74 per cent, the higher education sector 24 per cent and government 2 per cent. Overall, it increased by £56.6 million between 2011 and 2012, a growth of 10 per cent driven by the business sector.

Government R&D spend rose by 7.6 per cent from a drop in 2011, an increase of £1.1 million. Higher education expenditure had decreased by

£17 million, a significant 10.3 per cent drop. Growth in business R&D was up by 18.6 per cent, giving Northern Ireland the second highest level of growth out of the 12 UK regions. Between 2007 and 2012, overall business R&D spend had risen by 149.2 per cent.

Externally owned companies accounted for 77.8 per cent of business R&D expenditure, compared to 22.2 per cent by locally owned companies. Local businesses saw an annual increase of 1.1 per cent. The ten largest spending companies accounted for 63 per cent of total R&D spend in region.

Small and medium enterprises increased their R&D spend by 23 per cent between 2011 and 2012. Since 2007 such expenditure has grown by 47 per cent to £172.8 million. SMEs accounted for 38 per cent of overall R&D business spend. In-house expenditure was £92,000 per R&D employee (a rise of 10 per cent from the previous year) and there were 4,750 employees working on R&D on a full-time basis.

R&D expenditure (£ million)

Source: Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency