R&D spending rises to 82 billion Turkish Liras last year

ANKARA

Gross domestic expenditure on research and development (R&D) increased by 26 billion Turkish Liras or 49 percent from 2020 and reached 81.8 billion Turkish Liras ($9.1 billion) last year, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

The share of R&D expenditures in the country’s GDP increased from 1.09 percent two years ago to 1.13 percent in 2021. This was 0.8 percent in 2008, rising to 0.88 percent in 2015.

Per capita R&D expenditure was 974 liras, or $108, in 2021, up from 650 liras, or $94 in 2020, data also showed.

The largest spenders were financial and non-financial companies which accounted for 70.7 percent of all R&D expenditures. Higher education ranked second at 23.7 percent, while the share of the general government, including private non-profit organizations, in those expenditures was 5.6 percent.

Among the R&D expenditures, personnel expenditures constituted the largest item at 49.5 percent, followed by other current costs at 42.3 percent and capital expenditures at 8.2 percent.

On the funding side, financial and non-financial corporations financed 62.4 percent of the R&D spending, while the general government’s share was 25.1 percent. Funds from abroad accounted for 1.9 percent and higher education institutions’ share was 10.6 percent.

Nearly 222,000 were employed in R&D activities on a full-time basis. Of those 67.4 percent were employed by financial and non-financial corporations and 28.2 percent in higher education institutions. Some 4.4 percent were employed in general government including private non-profit sector in 2021.

Female full-time employees accounted for 32.1 percent, or 71,300 people, of all R&D personnel, with higher education institutions capturing the largest share at 45.7 percent. Some 30.4 percent of female R&D personnel were employed in the general government and 26.6 percent in financial and non-financial corporations.

Around 31 percent of all R&D personnel had PhD and 24.3 percent masters’ degrees.

Ankara took the lead with a 31.9 percent share in all R&D spending, followed by Istanbul at 28.5 percent and the region, covering the northwestern industrial provinces of Kocaeli, Sakarya, Düzce and Bolu, at 9.8 percent.

Most of the R&D expenditures was carried out by enterprises engaged in high-tech activities. R&D spending of companies engaged in high-tech activities in the manufacturing sector amounted to 32.8 billion liras or 47.5 percent of all expenditure in this sector.