Domestic investment in research and development last year reached KRW 119.74 trillion, as the nation ranked second worldwide in such funding as a percentage of gross domestic product. (iclickart) *[Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution of the above photo is strictly prohibited under copyright laws and regulations.]

By Lee Jihae

Domestic research and development (R&D) last year ranked second in the world as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) with KRW 119.74 trillion.

The Ministry of Science and ICT on Dec. 27 announced this in releasing the results of a survey on R&D activity last year.

Domestic R&D spending last year reached KRW 119.74 trillion, up 5.7% or KRW 6.42 trillion year on year and accounting for 4.96% of GDP, No. 2 in the world after Israel.

The largest source of R&D funding was the government with KRW 28.12 trillion or 23.6%, up from 23.4% in 2022, followed by private and foreign funds with 90.94 trillion (76.4%).

By entity, companies spent the most on R&D with KRW 94.29 trillion (79.2%), followed by public think tanks with KRW 13.88 trillion (11.7%) and universities KRW 10.89 trillion (9.1%).

In R&D expenditures by stage, KRW 17.74 trillion went to basic research (14.9%), KRW 23.47 to applied research and KRW 77.85 to developmental research.

The country had a combined 603,566 researchers, up 2,036 or 0.3% from 2022. That of R&D staff including research assistants was 827,963, up 14,200 (1.7%), and that of female researchers 143,127, with the latter's percentage rising each year.

jihlee08@korea.kr