Irish firms outspend EU rivals on R&D

Irish-based firms are streets ahead of competitors in terms of research and development, according to a new report that indicates firms based here invested more than five times the EU average last year.

The EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, published annually by the European Commission, shows that at 13.6% of total expenditure, the Irish-based firms surveyed spent multiples of their global counterparts’ R&D budgets.

At 2.6%, the EU average is less than a fifth of Irish R&D expenditure, while the global average stands at 4.9%.

EU Science and Innovation Research Commissioner, Carlos Moedas, said: “Despite the harsh economic climate, EU companies continue to invest in R&D. That is good news, but more is needed to keep up with our competitors. With public resources limited, attracting private R&D investment is even more essential”.

German carmaker Volkswagen leads the global ranking for the second consecutive year with a total R&D investment of €11.7bn, UP 23.4% on last year. The second and third placed companies are South Korea’S , Samsung and US-based Microsoft.

The car sector, where investments continued to increase by 6.2%, accounts for one quarter of the total R&D invested by the EU Scoreboard companies.On the other hand, high-tech sectors such as pharmaceuticals or technology hardware and equipment have experienced weaker growth and lowered the overall average of R&D investment in Europe.

French, German and UK-based companies account for more than two-thirds of total EU R&D spend.