Cyprus R&D spending way below EU average

Cyprus allocates €103 per person for research and development, less than half the EU average of €244, according to data on government budget allocations for R&D.

In 2021, the total government budget allocations for R&D across the EU was €109.2 bln, equivalent to 0.8% of GDP.

It is a 6% increase compared with 2020 (€102.7 bln) and a 35% increase from 2011 (€81.1 bln).

According to Eurostat data, government budget allocations for R&D at an EU level stood at €244 per person, a 33% increase since 2011 (€184 pp).

The highest allocations were recorded in Luxembourg (€689 per person), followed at a distance by Denmark (€530) and Germany (€471).

On the other hand, EU countries with the lowest R&D budget allocations per person were Romania (€19), Bulgaria (€24), Latvia (€45) and Hungary (€60).

Over the last decade, the largest percentage increases in government budget allocations for R&D were recorded in Latvia (from €14 in 2011 to €45 in 2021), Greece (€58 to €152) and Hungary (€30 to €60).

In contrast, these allocations decreased in Spain (from €155 in 2011 to €152 in 2021).

In Cyprus, there was a small increase compared to 2011 (from €96 to €103), but a decrease compared to 2020 when it was €132.

Per person, allocation decreased significantly in 2012 and 2013 (to €81 and €67 respectively) and stayed around €70 between 2014 and 2018.

The budget increased once more in 2019 to €92 and 2020 to €132.