Total research and development (R&D) expenditure reached over five billion dollars in 2022, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.
Expenditure on R&D increased by 11 per cent ($534 million) compared with 2020, and by 67 per cent ($2 billion) compared with 2016. This covers the business, government and higher education sectors.
“Growth in R&D expenditure has been driven by the business sector – nearly doubling what they spent between 2016 and 2022,” business performance manager Ricky Ho said.
R&D expenditure in the business sector grew by $1.5 billion compared with 2016 and accounted for 59 per cent of total R&D expenditure in 2022. The number of businesses reporting R&D expenditure in 2022 was approximately 2,300, which grew by 45 per cent compared with 2016.
The average expenditure per business has increased from $1.0 million in 2016 to $1.3 million in 2022.
Within the business sector, the scientific research and technical services industry saw the greatest growth between 2016 and 2022, with expenditure increasing from $75 million to $321 million. This industry contributed six per cent to total R&D expenditure in 2022.
Expenditure since 2016 also continued to grow in the government (up 37 per cent) and higher education sectors (up 43 per cent). Government expenditure was $900 million and higher education was $1.3 billion in 2022.
Information about the survey
The research and development survey 2022 surveyed the business, government and higher education sectors between August and December 2022 about their R&D activity in their last financial year. Data on expenditure refers to R&D carried out within the entity, as opposed to the entity funding another entity to undertake R&D.
