5% leap in EU's R&D spending

The 2006 European Union Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard shows that the top 1,000 EU companies increased their R&D an average of 5.3 % in 2005. This figure is in line with the results of a European Commission survey released earlier this year. The top 1,000 non-EU companies raised their R&D investment 7.7%, showing a worldwide boost in R&D spending.

The EU maintains a high profile, with 18 of the top 50 R&D spenders and five of the 10 worldwide companies with the fastest R&D growth. These figures emerge from the analysis of the top 1,000 EU and 1,000 non-EU companies investing in R&D. The full report, including detailed sector-by-sector analysis will be available later this year.

After a period of sluggish R&D growth, this year's scoreboard shows a strong increase in R&D investment worldwide. An average growth rate for EU firms of 5.3% contrasts with last year's growth rate of 0.7% and a contraction of 2% in 2004. The R&D investment growth of companies in the rest of the world in 2005 was 7.7%, one percent higher than the previous year.