World rankings / DATA EXPLORER

THE GLOBAL INDEX #069

Researchers in R&D2022

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

World Bank
Comparable ranking year2023Latest published year: 2024
Economies with data82 / 217No observation: 135
First-ranked country or territorySouth Korea9,434.76 per million people

Top 10

per million people · 2022
01South Korea
9,434.76
02Denmark
9,037.47
03Singapore
8,781.74
04Sweden
8,639.24
05Finland
8,073.33
06Norway
7,394.77
07Iceland
6,863.55
08Austria
6,632.31
09Netherlands
6,319.18
10Belgium
5,818.71

Complete ranking

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Researchers in R&D · 2022 · per million people
RankCountry / territoryValue (per million people)Year
01South Korea9,434.762022
02Denmark9,037.472022
03Singapore8,781.742022
04Sweden8,639.242022
05Finland8,073.332022
06Norway7,394.772022
07Iceland6,863.552022
08Austria6,632.312022
09Netherlands6,319.182022
10Belgium5,818.712022
11Germany5,801.622022
12Portugal5,686.652022
13Japan5,629.82022
14Canada5,624.272022
15Ireland5,554.992022
16Slovenia5,370.372022
17Luxembourg5,311.532022
18France5,181.852022
19United States4,937.492022
20Greece4,926.782022
21Hong Kong SAR China4,815.22022
22Hungary4,725.152022
23Czechia4,696.692022
24Estonia4,654.852022
25Lithuania4,153.662022
26Poland3,721.072022
27Macao SAR China3,498.492022
28Spain3,387.52022
29Slovakia3,387.472022
30Italy2,795.532022
31Russia2,657.942022
32Bulgaria2,557.22022
33Croatia2,534.422022
34Türkiye2,478.682022
35Serbia2,349.682022
36Malta2,313.682022
37Latvia2,270.082022
38Cuba2,079.082022
39Thailand1,863.082022
40China1,849.242022
41Georgia1,8092022
42Tunisia1,703.922022
43Azerbaijan1,702.312022
44Cyprus1,681.072022
45Belarus1,434.192022
46Argentina1,301.432022
47Malaysia1,218.332022
48Armenia1,187.432022
49Romania998.732022
50Saudi Arabia958.192022
51Uruguay880.32022
52Egypt829.282022
53Moldova768.022022
54North Macedonia730.92022
55Chile707.062022
56Kazakhstan661.692022
57Ukraine586.082022
58Mauritius578.62022
59Uzbekistan543.842022
60Bosnia & Herzegovina540.152022
61Mongolia535.372022
62Brunei506.182022
63Trinidad & Tobago492.722022
64Costa Rica462.472022
65South Africa444.162022
66Albania428.72022
67Mexico401.932022
68Oman383.132022
69Venezuela350.382022
70Namibia224.812022
71Kuwait176.262022
72Kenya168.62022
73Panama142.282022
74Syria139.942022
75Paraguay133.22022
76Congo - Brazzaville126.972022
77Sri Lanka94.492022
78El Salvador57.622022
79Togo43.232022
80Myanmar (Burma)26.42022
81Dominican Republic20.042022
82Guatemala4.42022

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 (135)

Afghanistan · Algeria · American Samoa · Andorra · Angola · Antigua & Barbuda · Aruba · Australia · Bahamas · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Barbados · Belize · Benin · Bermuda · Bhutan · Bolivia · Botswana · Brazil · British Virgin Islands · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cambodia · Cameroon · Cape Verde · Cayman Islands · Central African Republic · Chad · Channel Islands · Colombia · Comoros · 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 · Iran · Iraq · Isle of Man · Israel · Jamaica · Jordan · Kiribati · Kosovo · Kyrgyzstan · Laos · Lebanon · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Liechtenstein · Madagascar · Malawi · Maldives · Mali · Marshall Islands · Mauritania · Micronesia · Monaco · Montenegro · Morocco · Mozambique · Nauru · Nepal · New Caledonia · New Zealand · Nicaragua · Niger · Nigeria · North Korea · Northern Mariana Islands · Pakistan · Palau · Palestinian Territories · Papua New Guinea · Peru · Philippines · 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 · São Tomé & Príncipe · Tajikistan · Tanzania · Timor-Leste · Tonga · Turkmenistan · Turks & Caicos Islands · Tuvalu · U.S. Virgin Islands · Uganda · United Arab Emirates · 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 "
    }
  ]
}