World rankings / DATA EXPLORER

THE GLOBAL INDEX #069

Researchers in R&D2019

Full-time-equivalent researchers in R&D per million people.

World Bank
Comparable ranking year2023Latest published year: 2024
Economies with data84 / 217No observation: 133
First-ranked country or territoryLiechtenstein20,047.05 per million people

Top 10

per million people · 2019
01Liechtenstein
20,047.05
02South Korea
8,328.97
03Denmark
7,693.55
04Sweden
7,685.84
05Singapore
7,509.61
06Finland
7,245.86
07Norway
6,737.55
08Austria
5,958.86
09New Zealand
5,665.38
10Netherlands
5,592.12

Complete ranking

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Researchers in R&D · 2019 · per million people
RankCountry / territoryValue (per million people)Year
01Liechtenstein20,047.052019
02South Korea8,328.972019
03Denmark7,693.552019
04Sweden7,685.842019
05Singapore7,509.612019
06Finland7,245.862019
07Norway6,737.552019
08Austria5,958.862019
09New Zealand5,665.382019
10Netherlands5,592.122019
11Switzerland5,561.852019
12Germany5,398.632019
13Japan5,376.122019
14Belgium5,290.882019
15Luxembourg5,090.822019
16Slovenia5,060.572019
17Ireland4,961.442019
18Portugal4,859.222019
19Canada4,850.942019
20France4,773.972019
21United States4,367.212019
22Hong Kong SAR China4,240.392019
23Czechia4,027.592019
24Hungary4,021.152019
25Estonia3,770.422019
26Greece3,644.62019
27Macao SAR China3,587.542019
28Lithuania3,445.312019
29Poland3,159.072019
30Slovakia3,116.822019
31Spain3,048.152019
32Russia2,734.692019
33Italy2,670.652019
34United Arab Emirates2,476.632019
35Bulgaria2,420.092019
36Croatia2,203.552019
37Cuba2,136.682019
38Serbia2,087.282019
39Malta1,902.722019
40Latvia1,891.252019
41Georgia1,788.432019
42Thailand1,744.162019
43Türkiye1,737.582019
44Tunisia1,726.222019
45Azerbaijan1,715.462019
46Cyprus1,631.112019
47Iran1,588.432019
48China1,483.862019
49Argentina1,224.72019
50Romania887.472019
51Ukraine880.552019
52North Macedonia858.752019
53Moldova823.532019
54Uruguay803.422019
55Egypt776.562019
56Montenegro764.422019
57Vietnam754.622019
58Kazakhstan619.652019
59Mauritius543.562019
60Chile507.312019
61South Africa479.872019
62Trinidad & Tobago459.962019
63Bosnia & Herzegovina451.012019
64Uzbekistan422.112019
65Indonesia387.172019
66Oman382.872019
67Pakistan362.382019
68Mexico355.32019
69Philippines302.082019
70Venezuela230.882019
71Honduras187.842019
72Kuwait175.342019
73Paraguay169.362019
74Iraq118.272019
75Panama110.662019
76El Salvador75.712019
77Bolivia58.832019
78Rwanda58.742019
79Mali55.222019
80Togo45.32019
81Myanmar (Burma)30.412019
82Malawi25.172019
83Nigeria22.122019
84Guatemala14.962019

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 (133)

Afghanistan · Albania · Algeria · American Samoa · Andorra · Angola · Antigua & Barbuda · Armenia · Aruba · Australia · Bahamas · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Barbados · Belarus · Belize · Benin · Bermuda · Bhutan · Botswana · Brazil · British Virgin Islands · Brunei · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cambodia · Cameroon · Cape Verde · Cayman Islands · Central African Republic · Chad · Channel Islands · Colombia · Comoros · Congo - Brazzaville · Congo - Kinshasa · Costa Rica · Curaçao · Côte d’Ivoire · Djibouti · Dominica · Dominican Republic · Ecuador · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Eswatini · Ethiopia · Faroe Islands · Fiji · French Polynesia · Gabon · Gambia · Ghana · Gibraltar · Greenland · Grenada · Guam · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Guyana · Haiti · Iceland · India · Isle of Man · Israel · Jamaica · Jordan · Kenya · Kiribati · Kosovo · Kyrgyzstan · Laos · Lebanon · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Madagascar · Malaysia · Maldives · Marshall Islands · Mauritania · Micronesia · Monaco · Mongolia · Morocco · Mozambique · Namibia · Nauru · Nepal · New Caledonia · Nicaragua · Niger · North Korea · Northern Mariana Islands · Palau · Palestinian Territories · Papua New Guinea · Peru · Puerto Rico · Qatar · Samoa · San Marino · Saudi Arabia · Senegal · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Sint Maarten · Solomon Islands · Somalia · South Sudan · Sri Lanka · St. Kitts & Nevis · St. Lucia · St. Martin · St. Vincent & Grenadines · Sudan · Suriname · Syria · São Tomé & Príncipe · Tajikistan · Tanzania · Timor-Leste · Tonga · Turkmenistan · Turks & Caicos Islands · Tuvalu · U.S. Virgin Islands · Uganda · United Kingdom · Vanuatu · Yemen · Zambia · Zimbabwe

Source & definition

Indicator definition
Full-time-equivalent researchers in R&D per million people.
Unit
per million people
Source & definition
World Bank · SP.POP.SCIE.RD.P6
Open original source ↗
Original metadata
The number of researchers engaged in Research &Development (R&D), expressed as per million. Researchers are professionals who conduct research and improve or develop concepts, theories, models techniques instrumentation, software of operational methods. R&D covers basic research, applied research, and experimental development.

{
  "id": "SP.POP.SCIE.RD.P6",
  "name": "Researchers in R&D (per million people)",
  "unit": "",
  "source": {
    "id": "2",
    "value": "World Development Indicators"
  },
  "sourceNote": "The number of researchers engaged in Research &Development (R&D), expressed as per million. Researchers are professionals who conduct research and improve or develop concepts, theories, models techniques instrumentation, software of operational methods. 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 "
    }
  ]
}