World rankings / DATA EXPLORER
World rankings/Education, research & innovation

THE GLOBAL INDEX #069

Researchers in R&D2021

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

World Bank
Comparable ranking year2023Latest published year: 2024
Economies with data83 / 217No observation: 134
First-ranked country or territorySouth Korea9,071.45 per million people

Top 10

per million people · 2021
01South Korea
9,071.45
02Sweden
8,159.8
03Singapore
7,956.4
04Finland
7,870.43
05Denmark
7,708.24
06Norway
7,228.72
07Iceland
6,941.3
08Austria
6,323
09Netherlands
6,003.87
10Switzerland
6,003.41

Complete ranking

Download CSV ↓
Researchers in R&D · 2021 · per million people
RankCountry / territoryValue (per million people)Year
01South Korea9,071.452021
02Sweden8,159.82021
03Singapore7,956.42021
04Finland7,870.432021
05Denmark7,708.242021
06Norway7,228.722021
07Iceland6,941.32021
08Austria6,3232021
09Netherlands6,003.872021
10Switzerland6,003.412021
11Belgium5,770.892021
12Japan5,589.772021
13Germany5,520.582021
14Canada5,507.592021
15Portugal5,430.942021
16Slovenia5,235.182021
17Ireland5,213.432021
18New Zealand5,094.762021
19France5,058.052021
20Luxembourg4,939.092021
21United States4,900.772021
22Hong Kong SAR China4,591.732021
23Czechia4,560.452021
24Hungary4,452.492021
25Greece4,244.372021
26Macao SAR China4,092.532021
27Estonia4,036.132021
28Lithuania3,946.512021
29Poland3,558.22021
30Spain3,229.652021
31Slovakia3,211.132021
32Italy2,658.892021
33Russia2,647.792021
34United Arab Emirates2,606.782021
35Croatia2,414.422021
36Latvia2,395.272021
37Bulgaria2,346.72021
38Iran2,239.742021
39Türkiye2,209.72021
40Serbia2,206.712021
41Cuba2,099.72021
42Malta2,082.832021
43Azerbaijan1,743.432021
44Cyprus1,707.862021
45Georgia1,702.962021
46Thailand1,695.82021
47China1,685.982021
48Tunisia1,610.342021
49Belarus1,439.22021
50Argentina1,288.132021
51Romania988.682021
52Qatar947.782021
53Uruguay845.822021
54North Macedonia843.872021
55Egypt808.442021
56Saudi Arabia794.32021
57Moldova781.242021
58Ukraine774.072021
59Vietnam767.892021
60Mongolia681.362021
61Chile638.842021
62Kazakhstan609.972021
63Mauritius564.342021
64Trinidad & Tobago539.192021
65Uzbekistan523.882021
66South Africa454.82021
67Albania449.12021
68Bosnia & Herzegovina445.692021
69Costa Rica406.582021
70Pakistan401.392021
71Mexico384.772021
72Oman332.112021
73Venezuela276.362021
74Iraq164.282021
75Paraguay142.732021
76Panama134.742021
77El Salvador65.322021
78Bolivia63.062021
79Togo43.692021
80Mali28.672021
81Dominican Republic23.42021
82Myanmar (Burma)19.112021
83Guatemala14.532021
83 / 83 · 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 (134)

Afghanistan · Algeria · American Samoa · Andorra · Angola · Antigua & Barbuda · Armenia · Aruba · Australia · Bahamas · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Barbados · 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 · 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 · India · Indonesia · Isle of Man · Israel · Jamaica · Jordan · Kenya · Kiribati · Kosovo · Kuwait · Kyrgyzstan · Laos · Lebanon · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Liechtenstein · Madagascar · Malawi · Malaysia · Maldives · Marshall Islands · Mauritania · Micronesia · Monaco · Montenegro · Morocco · Mozambique · Namibia · Nauru · Nepal · New Caledonia · Nicaragua · Niger · Nigeria · North Korea · Northern Mariana Islands · Palau · Palestinian Territories · Papua New Guinea · Peru · Philippines · Puerto Rico · Rwanda · Samoa · San Marino · 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 "
    }
  ]
}

Related country rankings

Compare related indicators, paying attention to their years and definitions.

Browse all rankings ↗