Private-sector spending accelerates
Expenditure on research and development (R & D)in Cyprus inched up in 2003, according to the latest data, but still remains well below the EU average. The government remains the biggest spender, but investment by the private sector rose by 38%.
On the basis of the results of the ad-hoc survey carried out by the Statistical Service for the collection of data on scientific research and experimental development (R & D), total R & D expenditure in Cyprus in 2003 is estimated at CYP 23.9 m.n which corresponds to 0.35% of the GDP, compared to CYP 19.4 mln or 0.31% of GDP in 2002 and CYP 15.8 mln or 0.26% in 2001.
The Statistical Services notes that despite the increase of 23.1% recorded in R & D expenditure in 2003 relative to 2002, the share of GDP of Cyprus devoted to R & D activities continues to be quite low compared to other countries. For example, the share of R & D expenditure to GDP in the EU stands at 1.9% on average.
Government the biggest spender
By sector of performance, the government accounted for CYP 9.1 mln or 38.0% of total R & D expenditure, the higher education institutions for £7.8 mln or 32.8%, the business enterprises for £5.1 mln or 21.5% and the private non-profit institutions for £1.8 mln or 7.7%.
In the business enterprise sector, the manufacturing industry (and particularly the branches of chemical products and food products and beverages) constituted the principal source of R & D activity, with a total R & D expenditure of £2.1 mln, while of particular importance was also the contribution of computer enterprises with CYP 1.7 mln.
The biggest part of R & D expenditure was devoted to the natural (CYP 9.2 mln) and agricultural sciences (CYP 4.2 mln), while the social sciences absorbed CYP 3.8 mln, engineering and technology CYP 3.3 mln, the humanities CYP 2.3 mln and the medical sciences CYP 1.1 mln.
But private sector rising fast
About 41.2% of R & D activity in 2003 was financed from government funds (CYP 9.9 mln), as compared with CYP 8.7 mln or 44.8% in 2002, while CYP 4.5 mln was drawn from the budget of the University of Cyprus and CYP 3.3 mln from sources from abroad (including CYP 2.2 mln from the European Union).
An amount of CYP 6.2 mln constituted the contribution of the private sector, compared to CYP 4.5 mln in 2002, meaning a rise of 37.8%.
The number of persons engaged in R & D activities in 2003 stood at 2,102, compared to 1,937 in 2002. In full-time equivalent terms, this number is estimated at 922 persons, of which 350 or 38.0% were women. Of these persons, 24.6% were holders of PhD level degrees.
