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THE GLOBAL INDEX #069

Researchers in R&D2020

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

World Bank
Comparable ranking year2023Latest published year: 2024
Economies with data79 / 217No observation: 138
First-ranked country or territorySouth Korea8,620.01 per million people

Top 10

per million people · 2020
01South Korea
8,620.01
02Sweden
7,754.64
03Denmark
7,651.28
04Finland
7,548.33
05Singapore
7,503.33
06Norway
6,766.01
07Austria
5,829.29
08Netherlands
5,799.28
09Japan
5,450.44
10Belgium
5,418.91

Complete ranking

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Researchers in R&D · 2020 · per million people
RankCountry / territoryValue (per million people)Year
01South Korea8,620.012020
02Sweden7,754.642020
03Denmark7,651.282020
04Finland7,548.332020
05Singapore7,503.332020
06Norway6,766.012020
07Austria5,829.292020
08Netherlands5,799.282020
09Japan5,450.442020
10Belgium5,418.912020
11Germany5,390.052020
12Ireland5,196.112020
13Slovenia5,187.162020
14Canada5,155.652020
15Portugal5,131.442020
16Luxembourg4,920.652020
17France4,883.222020
18United States4,567.792020
19Hong Kong SAR China4,355.82020
20Hungary4,309.622020
21Czechia4,187.182020
22Greece4,008.182020
23Estonia3,836.382020
24Macao SAR China3,826.012020
25Lithuania3,643.252020
26Poland3,260.152020
27Slovakia3,167.432020
28Spain3,051.652020
29Russia2,710.162020
30Italy2,614.682020
31United Arab Emirates2,581.472020
32Bulgaria2,401.172020
33Croatia2,295.442020
34Serbia2,149.852020
35Latvia2,134.062020
36Cuba2,121.912020
37Thailand2,018.352020
38Malta1,964.922020
39Türkiye1,964.662020
40Georgia1,799.172020
41Azerbaijan1,732.372020
42Cyprus1,712.052020
43Tunisia1,644.572020
44China1,600.312020
45Belarus1,473.382020
46Argentina1,250.482020
47Romania942.322020
48North Macedonia868.882020
49Ukraine846.252020
50Uruguay820.562020
51Egypt790.662020
52Moldova774.682020
53Malaysia711.512020
54Kazakhstan668.832020
55Trinidad & Tobago604.732020
56Mauritius558.192020
57Chile515.322020
58Saudi Arabia512.062020
59South Africa459.992020
60Bosnia & Herzegovina446.122020
61Uzbekistan426.492020
62Indonesia395.342020
63Oman374.142020
64Costa Rica371.972020
65Mexico369.042020
66Mongolia332.372020
67Philippines320.282020
68Venezuela289.62020
69India259.262020
70Panama167.562020
71Kuwait165.982020
72Paraguay141.192020
73Iraq136.62020
74Sri Lanka100.812020
75El Salvador59.782020
76Togo44.112020
77Myanmar (Burma)32.812020
78Dominican Republic24.572020
79Guatemala17.32020
79 / 79 · Economies with data

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 (138)

Afghanistan · Albania · Algeria · American Samoa · Andorra · Angola · Antigua & Barbuda · Armenia · Aruba · Australia · Bahamas · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Barbados · Belize · Benin · Bermuda · Bhutan · Bolivia · 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 · Curaçao · Côte d’Ivoire · Djibouti · Dominica · Ecuador · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Eswatini · Ethiopia · Faroe Islands · Fiji · French Polynesia · Gabon · Gambia · Ghana · Gibraltar · Greenland · Grenada · Guam · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Guyana · Haiti · Honduras · Iceland · Iran · Isle of Man · Israel · Jamaica · Jordan · Kenya · Kiribati · Kosovo · Kyrgyzstan · Laos · Lebanon · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Liechtenstein · Madagascar · Malawi · Maldives · Mali · Marshall Islands · Mauritania · Micronesia · Monaco · Montenegro · Morocco · Mozambique · Namibia · Nauru · Nepal · New Caledonia · New Zealand · Nicaragua · Niger · Nigeria · North Korea · Northern Mariana Islands · Pakistan · Palau · Palestinian Territories · Papua New Guinea · Peru · Puerto Rico · Qatar · Rwanda · Samoa · San Marino · Senegal · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Sint Maarten · Solomon Islands · Somalia · South Sudan · St. Kitts & Nevis · St. Lucia · St. Martin · St. Vincent & Grenadines · Sudan · Suriname · Switzerland · Syria · São Tomé & Príncipe · Tajikistan · Tanzania · Timor-Leste · Tonga · Turkmenistan · Turks & Caicos Islands · Tuvalu · U.S. Virgin Islands · Uganda · United Kingdom · Vanuatu · Vietnam · 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 "
    }
  ]
}

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