The amount spent by Welsh firms on research and development accounts for just 1.7% of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ total, shows new figures from the ONS. In 2023 the total spending by firms in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ on R&D - a key driver for growth and improved productivity - was £50bn, up 2.9% (£1.4bn) on a year earlier.
However, for Welsh firms the amount of £835m, was nearly £50m down on a year earlier. In proportion to its share of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ’s overall business population, Welsh firms are significantly under investing in R&D activity. There are around 4.7 million businesses in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ. In Wales there are 220,00, or just under 5% of the total.
Firms in England the amount was £45.5bn, or 91.2% of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ total, Scotland had a 5.4% share of all º£½ÇÊÓƵ R&D spending with £2.69bn, and Northern Ireland 1.8% and £889m.
Of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ nations and regions only in the north-east of England, with a similar business demographic to Wales, was the share lower at 1.4% (£724m). The highest regional level in England was London at 22% (£10.9bn), followed by east of England 19.5% (£9.7bn) and the south east 16.9% (£8.4bn).
The pharmaceuticals product group made the largest contribution (£8.7bn) to the total of business R&D performed in 2023 (17.4% of total R&D performed by º£½ÇÊÓƵ businesses).
Larger companies, employing more than 250, account for around 60% at £30.7bn.
To finance civil R&D (not defence related) some £38.5bn was from own company funds, £2.76bn from governments in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ, £7.6bn overseas and £844,000 from other º£½ÇÊÓƵ firms.
When measuring the value of R&D performed by industry, rather than by product group, the scientific research and development industry performed the most, at £12.7bn (25.3%).
