According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) Korea has ranked number one globally for gross expenditure on research and development (R&D) for two consecutive years.

According to a survey on R&D activities in 2013 by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning on November 21, Korea’s investment in R&D reached KRW 59.39 trillion (about USD 54.1 billion), a 6.9 percent increase year-on-year.

Korea’s R&D investment is the sixth largest in the world following the United States (USD 453.4 billion, as of 2012), Japan (USD 199.1 billion), China (USD 163.1 billion), Germany (USD 102 billion) and France (USD 58.9 billion).

Korea topped the global list for its R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP (4.15 percent) for two consecutive years (4.02 percent, 2012).

Other countries in the top ten include: Israel (3.93 percent), Finland (3.55 percent), Sweden (3.41 percent), Japan (3.35 percent), Taiwan (3.06 percent), Germany & Denmark (2.98 percent), Switzerland (2.87 percent) and Austria (2.86 percent).

By financial resources, investment in private R&D accounted for 75.7 percent, at KRW 44.8792 trillion, government and public R&D for 24.0 percent, at KRW 14.2417 trillion, and foreign R&D for 0.3 percent, at KRW 180 billion.

By main agent, companies accounted for the most, at KRW 46.5599 trillion (78.5 percent), followed by public research institutions (KRW 7.2607 trillion, 12.2 percent) and universities (KRW 5.4803 trillion, 9.2 percent).

By phases of R&D investment, development accounted for the most, at KRW 37.3193 trillion, followed by application, at KRW 11.3159 trillion, and basic, at KRW 10.6658 trillion.

The total number of researchers reached 410,333 people, an increase of 8,609 researchers. In this regard, Korea has the world’s sixth highest number of full-time R&D researchers (321,842 people).

The number of researchers per 1,000 economically active population is 12.4 researchers in Korea, outpacing competitors including Japan (9.9 researchers), France (8.8 researchers), Germany (8.2 researchers), the United States (8.1 researchers), Great Britain (7.9 researchers) and China (1.8 researchers).

The survey was conducted for 41,869 public research institutions, universities and companies in Korea based on guidelines from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

lucho@yna.co.kr

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Source Text

Source: Yonhap News (November. 20, 2014)

** This article was translated from the Korean.