Taiwan ranked 9th globally for R&D spending in 2015

Taipei, July 19 (CNA) Taiwan's spending on research and development (R&D), adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP), totaled US$33.7 billion in 2015, the ninth highest among 42 countries and economies worldwide, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Wednesday.

Citing data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the DGBAS said Taiwan's spending on R&D in 2015 was 3.6 percent higher than the previous year.

The amount in 2015 was 3.1 percent of Taiwan's gross domestic product (GDP) and represented an average annual increase of 6.1 percent over the previous five years, the 13th highest among the 42 countries and economies, according to the DGBAS.

Over the five-year period, Slovakia had the highest average annual rate of increase at 18.2 percent, followed by China with 13.9 percent.

The United States had the largest R&D spending in 2015 of US$502.9 billion, followed by China with US$408.8 billion and Japan with US$170.1 billion.

The U.S.' spending increased by an annual 4.9 percent, while China's was up 10.5 percent and Japan's fell 0.3 percent, the statistics showed.

The business sector was the largest contributor to R&D spending in the major countries, accounting for 78.5 percent in Japan and over 76 percent in Taiwan, South Korea and China, according to the data.

(By Chen Cheng-wei and Christie Chen)ENDITEM/pc