Taiwan's R&D spending tops NT$1 trillion in 2024

Taipei, Nov. 1 (CNA) Taiwan's spending in research and development surpassed the NT$1 trillion mark for the first time in 2024, up nearly 12 percent from the previous year, according to the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC).

In a statement issued on Friday, the NSTC said the country's R&D spending from both the private and public sectors totaled about NT$1.049 trillion (US$34.11 billion) in 2024, up 11.9 percent from a year earlier.

The increase beat the average growth of 9.7 percent in the past five years, the NSTC added.

The spending accounted for 4.10 percent of Taiwan's gross domestic product in 2024, up from 3.97 percent in 2023, hitting a new high, according to the NSTC.

The growing investment reflected the global economic recovery and both external and internal demand in the year, which prompted the private sector and the government to spend more and raise their R&D workforce, the NSTC said.

In 2024, R&D spending by the private sector -- including enterprises, higher education institutions, non-profit organizations and foreign entities -- reached NT$900.4 billion, up 12.3 percent from a year earlier and accounting for 85.8 percent of total spending, 0.3 percentage points higher than in 2023, the NSTC said.

It said the public sector's R&D spending, meanwhile, rose 9.7 percent from a year earlier to NT$148.9 billion in 2024.

In the private sector, the NSTC said large enterprises which have a workforce of more than 500 contributed about 82.4 percent of NT$898.6 billion spent by the entire business sector, up 0.7 percentage points from a year earlier, adding that those companies dominated the country's R&D expenses.

In the country's science parks, which house major semiconductor, computer/computer peripheral, communications, optoelectronics, precision machinery and biotech firms and serve as the bases for Taiwan's technology development, R&D spending accounted for 47.5 percent of the total expenses of the enterprises in 2024, up from 42.3 percent in 2020 as the semiconductor industry was keen to upgrade its technologies to boost competitiveness, the NSTC said.

The NSTC added that the total number of full-time equivalent R&D personnel totaled 311,156 in 2024, up 2.8 percent from a year earlier. Of these, 229,021 were male and 82,135 were female, representing a roughly 3:1 ratio.