Countries by Research and Development Spending 2024
About This Dataset
Countries by Research and Development Spending 2024
Countries ranked by total R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP in 2024 according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics and OECD data. Israel and South Korea consistently compete for the top position in R&D intensity, each investing over 4% of GDP in research and development — reflecting deliberate national strategies to build innovation-driven economies.
Analysis
Israel heads the table on 5.60, ahead of South Korea (4.90) and United States (3.50) in R&D Spending (% of GDP) in 2024. 2.70 separates the highest figure (5.60) from the lowest (2.90) in R&D Spending (% of GDP). First and second are separated by 0.70, so the leader sits inside the field rather than apart from it. Places 3 to 8 are close together, spanning 3.50 to 2.90 R&D Spending (% of GDP).
Source:
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Key Findings
🏆
Israel leads in R&D Spending (% of GDP) with 5.60 in 2024.
📊
Average R&D Spending (% of GDP) in 2024: 4 · median: 3.
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Gap in 2024: Israel is 1.9× larger than Finland.
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart
Methodology & source
- Data source
- UNESCO Institute for Statistics
- Coverage
- 8 entities · 2024 · 8 observations
- Measure
- R&D Spending (% of GDP)
- Last updated
- 6 September 2026
- Compiled by
- The ANYSTAT team, from the source above
How the figures are calculated
- Values are shown as reported by the source. Nothing is rescaled, rebased or converted — the only changes are thousand separators and decimals shown to two places.
- Entities are ranked highest-first on their value in 2024.
Data Sources & References
All external sources cited in this dataset
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