World rankings / DATA EXPLORER

THE GLOBAL INDEX #068

R&D spending2024

Research and development expenditure as a percentage of GDP.

World Bank
Limited coverage The selected year has lower coverage than the default comparison year. Missing economies can materially affect ranks.
Comparable ranking year2023Latest published year: 2024
Economies with data30 / 217No observation: 187
First-ranked country or territoryCanada1.79 % of GDP

Top 10

% of GDP · 2024
01Canada
1.79
03Egypt
1.02
04Serbia
0.94
05Russia
0.94
06Kenya
0.81
08Belarus
0.59
09Algeria
0.44
10Cuba
0.44

Complete ranking

Download CSV ↓
R&D spending · 2024 · % of GDP
RankCountry / territoryValue (% of GDP)Year
01Canada1.792024
02Hong Kong SAR China1.132024
03Egypt1.022024
04Serbia0.942024
05Russia0.942024
06Kenya0.812024
07Saudi Arabia0.642024
08Belarus0.592024
09Algeria0.442024
10Cuba0.442024
11Oman0.392024
12North Macedonia0.372024
13Ukraine0.372024
14Macao SAR China0.312024
15Armenia0.292024
16Georgia0.262024
17Mauritius0.262024
18Mexico0.252024
19Togo0.222024
20Moldova0.222024
21Bosnia & Herzegovina0.212024
22Azerbaijan0.212024
23Panama0.22024
24Bahrain0.192024
25Kazakhstan0.162024
26Burkina Faso0.12024
27Uzbekistan0.12024
28Bhutan0.12024
29Kuwait0.092024
30Kyrgyzstan0.052024

How this ranking works

For annual statistics, the default is the newest year covering at least 70% of the maximum available country coverage, and at least 20 economies where possible. A ranking uses one year or report edition; missing observations are not replaced with another year. Newer years with lower coverage can be selected.

Intentional homicide rates and peace scores rank from lowest to highest; other indicators rank from highest to lowest. Ranks use original values and competition ranking for ties, for example 1, 2, 2, 4. Filtering or changing display order does not recalculate global ranks. Higher values are not necessarily better.

Statistics reflect the public source snapshot, not live measurements. Some series are modeled estimates or multi-year averages. See original metadata.

No observation (187)

Afghanistan · Albania · American Samoa · Andorra · Angola · Antigua & Barbuda · Argentina · Aruba · Australia · Austria · Bahamas · Bangladesh · Barbados · Belgium · Belize · Benin · Bermuda · Bolivia · Botswana · Brazil · British Virgin Islands · Brunei · Bulgaria · Burundi · Cambodia · Cameroon · Cape Verde · Cayman Islands · Central African Republic · Chad · Channel Islands · Chile · China · Colombia · Comoros · Congo - Brazzaville · Congo - Kinshasa · Costa Rica · Croatia · Curaçao · Cyprus · Czechia · Côte d’Ivoire · Denmark · Djibouti · Dominica · Dominican Republic · Ecuador · El Salvador · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Estonia · Eswatini · Ethiopia · Faroe Islands · Fiji · Finland · France · French Polynesia · Gabon · Gambia · Germany · Ghana · Gibraltar · Greece · Greenland · Grenada · Guam · Guatemala · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Guyana · Haiti · Honduras · Hungary · Iceland · India · Indonesia · Iran · Iraq · Ireland · Isle of Man · Israel · Italy · Jamaica · Japan · Jordan · Kiribati · Kosovo · Laos · Latvia · Lebanon · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Madagascar · Malawi · Malaysia · Maldives · Mali · Malta · Marshall Islands · Mauritania · Micronesia · Monaco · Mongolia · Montenegro · Morocco · Mozambique · Myanmar (Burma) · Namibia · Nauru · Nepal · Netherlands · New Caledonia · New Zealand · Nicaragua · Niger · Nigeria · North Korea · Northern Mariana Islands · Norway · Pakistan · Palau · Palestinian Territories · Papua New Guinea · Paraguay · Peru · Philippines · Poland · Portugal · Puerto Rico · Qatar · Romania · Rwanda · Samoa · San Marino · Senegal · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Singapore · Sint Maarten · Slovakia · Slovenia · Solomon Islands · Somalia · South Africa · South Korea · South Sudan · Spain · Sri Lanka · St. Kitts & Nevis · St. Lucia · St. Martin · St. Vincent & Grenadines · Sudan · Suriname · Sweden · Switzerland · Syria · São Tomé & Príncipe · Tajikistan · Tanzania · Thailand · Timor-Leste · Tonga · Trinidad & Tobago · Tunisia · Turkmenistan · Turks & Caicos Islands · Tuvalu · Türkiye · U.S. Virgin Islands · Uganda · United Arab Emirates · United Kingdom · United States · Uruguay · Vanuatu · Venezuela · Vietnam · Yemen · Zambia · Zimbabwe

Source & definition

Indicator definition
Research and development expenditure as a percentage of GDP.
Unit
% of GDP
Source & definition
World Bank · GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS
Open original source ↗
Original metadata
Gross domestic expenditures on research and development (R&D), expressed as a percent of GDP. They include both capital and current expenditures in the four main sectors: Business enterprise, Government, Higher education and Private non-profit. R&D covers basic research, applied research, and experimental development.

{
  "id": "GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS",
  "name": "Research and development expenditure (% of GDP)",
  "unit": "",
  "source": {
    "id": "2",
    "value": "World Development Indicators"
  },
  "sourceNote": "Gross domestic expenditures on research and development (R&D), expressed as a percent of GDP. They include both capital and current expenditures in the four main sectors: Business enterprise, Government, Higher education and Private non-profit. R&D covers basic research, applied research, and experimental development.",
  "sourceOrganization": "Stat Bulk Data Download Service, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: https://databrowser.uis.unesco.org/resources/bulk, publisher: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), date accessed: 2025-03-26, date published: 2025-02",
  "topics": [
    {
      "id": "14",
      "value": "Science & Technology "
    }
  ]
}