Science, technology and innovation in Europe : 2011 edition.
Date: 2011-05-23
Institutions: Eurostat
Subjects: innovation, investment, research and development, scientific research, statistics, technology

ISSN 1830-754X 

Pocketbooks

Science, technology 
and innovation in Europe

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Science, technology 

and innovation in Europe 

2011 edition

This pocketbook gives an overview of science, 

technology and innovation (STI) statistics. Only 

the most relevant indicators have been selected  

in order to provide an overall statistical picture  

of science, technology and innovation in Europe 

and a ranking of the EU in relation to its partners. 

This publication is a compendium of data 

available at Eurostat, but it is by no means 

exhaustive: it is a showcase for the main available 

data sets. 

The focus is on the EU-27 and the candidate 

countries. However, to allow international 

comparisons, data for Iceland, Liechtenstein, 

Norway, Switzerland, China, Japan, Russia  

and the United States are included when 

available. 

The pocketbook is divided into seven chapters, 

including: Government budget appropriations 

or outlays on R&D (GBAORD), R&D expenditure, 

R&D personnel and human resources in science 

and technology (HRST), statistics on innovation, 

patents and high-technology. 

 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat 

2011 edition

ISBN 978927919843-4

9 7 8 9 2 7 9 1 9 8 4 3 4

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Pocketbooks

Science, technology 
and innovation in Europe

2011 edition

Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers  
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Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2011

ISBN 978-92-79-19843-4 
ISSN 1830-754x
doi:10.2785/12854
Cat. No KS-31-11-118-EN-C

Theme: Science and technology
Collection: Pocketbooks

© European Union, 2011
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
© Cover photo: Shutterstock

Printed in Belgium

Printed on elemental chlorine-free bleached PaPer (ecf )

 Acknowledgements

This  publication  has  been  managed  and  prepared  by  
Eurostat:

-  Directorate  F:  Social  and 

information  society  

statistics — Inna Šteinbuka, Director;

-  Unit  F-4:  Education,  science  and  culture  —  

Christine Coin, Head of Unit.

Coordinators:

Veijo Ritola Veijo-Ismo.Ritola@ec.europa.eu 

Silvia Crintea-Rotaru silvia.crintea-rotaru@ec.europa.eu

Bernard Félix bernard.felix@ec.europa.eu 

Sergiu Parvan sergiu-valentin.parvan@ec.europa.eu 

Reni Petkova reni.petkova@ec.europa.eu

Eurostat, Unit F-4 — Education, science and culture

Statistical Office of the European Union

Joseph Bech Building

Alphonse Weicker, 5

L-2721, Luxembourg

Production:

Data processing, analysis, design and desktop publishing:

Sogeti  Luxembourg  S.A.:  Veronica  Beneitez-Pinero,  Gesina 
Dierickx, Sandrine Engel, Sammy Sioen and Marta Zimolag.

DISCLAIMER

The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the 
individual authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the 
position of the European Commission.

Published by

Publications Office of the European Union.

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

3

 Table of contents

Table of contents

Introduction ................................................................................. 9 

Abbreviations and symbols ..................................................... 11

Part I — Investing in R&D

Chapter 1 — Government budget appropriations or 

outlays on R&D (GBAORD) ............................. 19

Chapter 2 — R&D expenditure ............................................... 27

Part II — Monitoring the knowledge workers

Chapter 3 — R&D personnel ...................................................43

Chapter 4 — Human resources in science and 

technology (HRST) ............................................ 57

Part III — Productivity and competitiveness

Chapter 5 — Innovation ...........................................................77

Chapter 6 — Patents .................................................................97

Chapter 7 — High-technology .............................................. 117

Methodological notes ............................................................. 141

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

5

Table of contents 

Table des matières

Introduction .................................................................................9 

Abréviations et symboles ......................................................... 11

Partie I — Investir dans la R&D

Chapitre 1 — Crédits budgétaires publics de R&D 

(CBPRD)............................................................. 19

Chapitre 2 — Dépenses de R&D ............................................. 27

Partie II — Suivi des travailleurs du savoir

Chapitre 3 — Personnel de R&D ............................................43

Chapitre 4 — Ressources humaines en sciences et 

technologie (HRST) ......................................... 57

Partie III — Productivité et compétitivité

Chapitre 5 — Innovation .........................................................77

Chapitre 6 — Brevets ................................................................97

Chapitre 7 — Haute technologie ........................................... 117

Notes méthodologiques .......................................................... 141

6

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 Table of contents

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Einleitung ..................................................................................... 9 

Abkürzungen und Symbole ..................................................... 11

Teil I — FuE-Investitionen

Kapitel.1 — Staatliche Aufwendungen für FuE

(GBAORD) ............................................................ 19

Kapitel. 2 — FuE-Ausgaben ..................................................... 27

Teil II — Beobachtung der Wissensarbeiter

Kapitel. 3 — FuE-Personal .......................................................43

Kapitel. 4 — Humanressourcen im Wissenschafts- 

und Technologiebereich (HRST)  ................... 57

Teil III — Produktivität und Wettbewerbsfähigkeit

Kapitel. 5 — Innovation ...........................................................77

Kapitel. 6 — Patente ..................................................................97

Kapitel. 7 — Hochtechnologie............................................... 117

Angaben zur Methodik .......................................................... 141

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

7

 Introduction

This  pocketbook  gives  an  overview  of  science,  technology 
and  innovation  (STI)  statistics.  All  the  statistical  data  and 
indicators are based on sources available at Eurostat. Only the 
most  relevant  indicators  have  been  selected  so  as  to  give  an 
overall statistical picture of science, technology and innovation 
in Europe and of how the EU stands in relation to its partners.

Eurostat has been collecting STI data for many years to meet the 
needs of policymakers and the scientific community. Science, 
technology  and  innovation  statistics  were  acknowledged  by 
the Commission in 2010 to be closely linked to the EU’s policy 
activities.  Innovation  indicators  are  seen  as  a  key  element  in 
terms  of  the  Innovation  Union  initiative  and  the  European 
Research Area (ERA) in generating progress under the various 
Europe 2020 strategy priorities. Europe 2020 sets out a vision 
of Europe’s social market economy for the 21st century, aiming 
to turn the EU into a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy 
that  delivers  high  levels  of  employment,  productivity  and 
social cohesion.

This publication is by no means exhaustive: it is a showcase for 
the main available data sets. Any other sources that have been 
used are acknowledged beneath each table or graph.

The focus is on the EU-27 and the candidate countries. However, 
for  the  purposes  of  international  comparison,  Liechtenstein, 
Norway, Switzerland, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, the 
United  States  and  other  countries  are  included  wherever  the 
data are available.

The  pocketbook  is  divided  into  three  main  parts  and  seven 
chapters, as follows:

- Part 1 — Investing in R&D

- Part 2 — Monitoring the knowledge workers

- Part 3 — Productivity and competitiveness

The first part is divided into government budget appropriations 
or  outlays  on  R&D  (GBAORD  —  Chapter  1)  and  R&D 
expenditure (Chapter 2). 

Part 2 sets out data on R&D personnel (Chapter 3) and human 
resources in science and technology (HRST — Chapter 4). 

Part  3  features  statistics  on  innovation  (Chapter  5),  patents 
(Chapter 6) and high-technology (Chapter 7).

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

9

Introduction 

The  three  main  parts  are  followed  by  methodological  notes 
(including definitions) for the various statistical data sources 
used. 

NB:  Tables  and  figures  in  this  publication  refer  to  the  data 
available on Eurostat’s reference database at the time of writing 
(November 2010). However, the reference database is updated 
regularly as new data are received, so data that are more recent 
may differ from those available at the time of publishing.

10

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 Abbreviations and symbols

Statistical symbols and abbreviations

b 

e 

f 

p 

r 

s 

u 

: 

:c 

:u 

- 

% 

0 

1 000s 

2005 

2005/06 

Break in series

Estimate

Forecast

Provisional

Revised value

Eurostat estimate

Unreliable data

Data not available

Confidential data

Extremely unreliable data

Not applicable or real zero

Percentage

Less than fifty percent of the unit used

Thousands

Calendar  year  (e.g.  from  1.1.2005  to 
31.12.2005)

Academic  year  (e.g.  from  1.9.2005  to 
31.8.2006)

2001–2006 

Period of several calendar years (e.g. from 
1.1.2001 to 31.12.2006)

Abbreviations

AGR 

AAGR 

BERD 

BES  

CC 

CIS 2006 

CLFS/LFS 

COMEXT  

EC  

EEA  

Annual Growth Rate

Average Annual Growth Rate

Business Enterprise intramural

expenditure on R&D

Business enterprise sector

Candidate countries

Community Innovation Survey 2006

(Community) Labour Force Survey

Eurostat  reference  database  containing 
external trade statistics

European Community/Communities

European Economic Area (EU-27, Iceland, 
Liechtenstein and Norway)

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

11

 
Abbreviations and symbols 

EFTA 

EHT  

EPO  

ESA  

European Free Trade Association

Employment in high- and medium-high-
tech sectors

European Patent Office

European System of Accounts

EU/EU-25/EU-27   European Union (25/27 Member States)

EU-15  

EUR 

Eurostat 

EXP 

FTE  

GBAORD  

GDP  

GERD  

GOV  

GUF  

HC  

HES  

HRST  

HRSTC 

HRSTE 

HRSTO 

HRSTU 

IPC  

ICT  

ISCED 

ISCO 

European Union (15 Member States)

Euro

Statistical Office of the European

Communities

Expenditure

Full-Time Equivalent

Government  Budget  Appropriations  or 
Outlays on R&D

Gross Domestic Product

Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D

Government sector

General University Funds

Head Count

Higher education sector

Human Resources in Science and

Technology

Human Resources in Science and
Technology — Core

Human Resources in Science and 
Technology — Education

Human Resources in Science and 
Technology — Occupation

Human Resources in Science and 
Technology — Unemployed

International Patent Classification

Information and Communications 
Technology

International  Standard  Classification  of 
Education

International  Standard  Classification  of 
Occupations

12

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Abbreviations and symbols

Japanese Patent Office

Knowledge-Intensive Services

Less Knowledge-Intensive Services

Million

Member States

Main  Science  and  Technology  Indicators 
(OECD)

for 

Nomenclature 
the  analysis  and 
comparison of scientific programmes and 
budgets

Statistical  classification  of  economic 
activities in the European Communities

Nomenclature  of  Territorial  Units  for 
Statistics

Organisation  for  Economic  Cooperation 
and Development

Patent Cooperation Treaty

Private non-profit sector

Purchasing Power Standard

Personnel

Research and Development

Researchers

Science and Engineering

Science and Technology

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

United  States  Patent  and  Trademark  
Office

Venture Capital Investment

World Intellectual Property Organisation

JPO 

KIS 

LKIS 

M  

MS 

MSTI  

NABS 

NACE 

NUTS  

OECD  

PCT 

PNP 

PPS 

PSL 

R&D 

RSE 

S&E 

S&T 

SMEs 

USPTO 

VCI 

WIPO 

Country abbreviations

EU Member States

BE 

BG 

CZ 

DK 

Belgium

Bulgaria

Czech Republic

Denmark

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

13

Abbreviations and symbols 

DE 

EE 

IE 

EL 

ES 

FR 

IT 

CY 

LV 

LT 

LU 

HU 

MT 

NL 

AT 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SI 

SK 

FI 

SE 

UK 

EFTA countries

IS 

LI 

NO 

CH 

Germany

Estonia

Ireland

Greece

Spain

France

Italy

Cyprus

Latvia

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Hungary

Malta

Netherlands

Austria

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Slovenia

Slovakia

Finland

Sweden

United Kingdom

Iceland

Liechtenstein

Norway

Switzerland

Candidate countries

FYROM 

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

HR 

TR 

Croatia

Turkey

Other countries

ASIOTH 

Other Asian countries

14

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 Abbreviations and symbols

AU 

BR 

CA 

CN 

HK 

ID 

IL 

IN 

JP 

MX 

MY 

PH 

RU 

SG 

TH 

US 

Australia

Brazil

Canada

China

Hong Kong

Indonesia

Israel

India

Japan

Mexico

Malaysia

Philippines

Russia

Singapore

Thailand

United States

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

15

Investing in R&DI

Government budget 
appropriations or outlays 
on R&D (GBAORD)

Government budget appropriations or outlays on R&D (GBAORD)

1

Government  budget  appropriations  or  outlays  on  research 
and  development  (GBAORD)  are  funds  allocated  to  R&D  in 
central  government  or  federal  budgets  and  therefore  mean 
budget provisions, not actual expenditure. 

In  2009,  GBAORD  expressed  as  a  percentage  of  GDP  stood 
at 0.74 % in the EU-27. Despite being up on 2008, it was still 
below the levels recorded by its main economic partners: the 
United  States  (0.99 %,  2008  data)  and  Japan  (0.75 %).  From 
2008 to 2009, the most significant increase in GBAORD as a 
share of GDP was in South Korea.

In  2009,  there  were  wide  disparities  in  GBAORD  as  a  share 
of  GDP  between  the  Member  States,  ranging  from  1.13 %  in 
Finland  to  0.20 %  in  Latvia.  Finland  was  the  only  Member 
State where this figure was above 1 %, followed at world level 
by Iceland (1.05 %) and South Korea (1.02 %). A further eight 
Member  States  recorded  GBAORD  levels  above  the  EU-27 
average  (0.74 %):  Denmark,  Portugal,  Sweden,  Germany, 
Austria, the Netherlands, France and Slovenia.

Government  budget  appropriations  or  outlays  on  R&D  are 
distributed  by  socio-economic  objectives,  depending  on  the 
purpose of the R&D programmes or projects, on the basis of 
the Nomenclature for the analysis and comparison of scientific 
programmes and budgets (NABS 2007). 

In  2009  the  main  socio-economic  objective  within  the  
EU-27 was ‘general advancement of knowledge: R&D financed 
from  general  university  funds  (GUF)’,  which  accounted  for 
31.8  %  of  total  GBAORD,  followed  by  ‘general  advancement 
of  knowledge:  R&D  financed  from  other  sources  than  GUF’ 
(17.5  %),  ‘industrial  production  and  technology’  (9.7  %)  and 
‘health’ (8.2 %).

In Japan, ‘general advancement of knowledge: R&D financed 
from  GUF’  was  also  the  foremost  objective,  accounting  for 
34.2 % of total GBAORD, while in the United States more than 
half of GBAORD (56.6 %, 2008 data) was allocated to ‘defence’. 

At country level, the two socio-economic objectives linked to 
‘general advancement of knowledge’ accounted for the largest 
shares  of  total  GBAORD  in  24  Member  States.  ‘Industrial 
production and technology’ was the top objective in Belgium, 
‘education’ in Lithuania and ‘health’ in Luxembourg.

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

21

1 Government budget appropriations or outlays on R&D (GBAORD) 

Figure 1.1: Total GBAORD as a percentage of GDP, EU-27,  
EU-15, Japan, South Korea and the United States, 2005–2009 

% of GDP

1.10

1.00

0.90

0.80

0.70

0.60

1.02

0.99

0.77
0.75
0.74

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

EU - 27 (¹)

United States (²)(³)(4)

South Korea (²)

EU - 15 (¹)

Japan (³)

(¹) Eurostat estimate. 
(²) KR (2008 and 2009) and US (2008): provisional data. 
(³) Federal or central government only. 
(⁴) Total excludes data for the R&D content of general payment to the higher education 
sector for combined education and research (public GUF).

Source: Eurostat (online data code: gba_nabsfin07), OECD-MSTI for KR, JP and US

22

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Government budget appropriations or outlays on R&D (GBAORD)

1

Figure 1.2: Total GBAORD as a percentage of GDP, EU-27 
and selected countries, 2009 (¹)

FI (²)

IS

KR (²)

DK

US (²)(6)(7)

PT (²)

SE (²)

DE (²)

NO

AT (²)(6) 

NL (²)

FR (8)

SI

CH

JP (6) 

EU - 27 (³)

ES (5)

UK (4)

EE (4)

HR (²)

BE (²)

CZ (²)

IT

IE (²)

LU

RU

CY

HU

BG

PL (5) 

RO

EL (²)

SK

LT

MT (²)

LV

1.13

1.05

1.02

0.99

0.99

0.92

0.91

0.87

0.85

0.80

0.79

0.78

0.78

0.76

0.75

0.74

0.74

0.73

0.70

0.69

0.68

0.68

0.64

0.58

0.52

0.51

0.48

0.46

0.34

0.34

0.31

0.30

0.30

0.26

0.21

0.20

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2
% of GDP

(¹) Exceptions to the reference year 2009:  2007: EL;

2008: CH and US.

(²) Provisional data. 
(³) Eurostat estimate. 
(⁴) National estimate. 
(⁵) Break in series. 
(⁶) Federal or central government only. 
(⁷) Total excludes data for the R&D content of general payment to the higher education 
sector for combined education and research (public GUF). 
(⁸) Underestimated or based on underestimated data.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: gba_nabsfin07), OECD-MSTI for JP, KR and US

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

23

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1 Government budget appropriations or outlays on R&D (GBAORD) 

Table 1.3 (Part I): Total GBAORD in EUR million and by 
socio-economic objectives (NABS 2007) as a percentage of 
total, EU-27 and selected countries, 2009 (¹) 

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EU-27  87 605  s

1.8  s 2.9  s

5.4  s

3.9  s 3.8  s

9.7  s

8.2  s

BE

BG

CZ

DK

2 291  p

0.6  p 2.5  p 7.4  p

1.9  p 1.7  p 34.6  p

1.8  p

118  

1.1   1.5

0.4  

3.1

  2.2  

2.8

2.2  

939  p

1.8  p 2.5  p 1.6  p

3.7  p 3.3  p 13.9  p

6.4  p

2 200  

0.5   2.6

1.9  

0.7

  3.1  

9.4

7.9  

DE (²)

20 851  p

2.0  ip 3.1  ip 5.1  ip

1.8  ip 3.9  ip 12.7  ip

4.7 ip

EE

IE

EL 

ES

96  e

1.2  e 4.4  e

1.2  e

9.3  e 3.1  e

9.9  e 13.7  e

929  p

0.1  p 1.5  p 0.0  p

0.5  p 3.6  p 14.5  p

5.3  p

673  p

3.2  p 2.6  p 2.1  p

1.6  p 2.0  p 9.0  p

6.9  p

7 828  b

1.9  b 5.0  b 1.6  b

6.4  b 3.4  b 11.4  b 11.8  b

FR (²)

14 928  i

1.0  i 2.5  i 13.7  i

9 778  

2.8   3.2

7.4  

81  

0.4   0.8

0

38  

2.2   7.5

1.5  

70  

0

  4.4

0

0

  0.4  

196  

0.8   3.2

429  

0.1   2.9

0.3  

0.1  

12  p

0

  2.2

0

3.4

6.4

1.6

9.3

2.4

0.9

7.8

 i 6.2  i

2.0

 i

7.4  i

  4.1   13.5

  10.3  

0

0.9

  7.8   10.4

  1.8  

0.1

5.2

7.2  

7.1  

1.1  

  22.1  

  2.1   11.5

  11.4  

  0.1  

0

0.1  

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

4 527  p

0.9  p 0.4  p 3.4  p

3.9  p 3.0  p 10.8  p

4.2  p

AT (²)

2 203  ip

1.7  ip 2.5  ip 0.4  ip

1.0  ip 1.9  ip 14.5  ip

3.2 ip

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

1 052  b

1.3   3.6

1 483  

3.0   2.2

1.6  

0.3  

3.7

6.6

  4.1  b 19.4

7.9  b

  1.4  

6.8

  10.5  

360  

1.9   7.9

3.5   10.7

  6.7   18.7

  12.5  

277  

1.2   3.3

190  

1.5   2.8

0.4  

0.4  

2.6

2.2

  1.0   28.2

  2.0  

6.5

3.8  

5.8  

1 928  p

1.2  p 1.5  p 1.6  p

2.2  p 9.9  p 23.0  p

5.8  p

SE (²)

2 662 ip

0.6  p 1.8  p 0.7  p

5.8  p 4.2  p 4.3  p

0.9  p

UK

IS

NO

CH

HR

11 341  e

2.7  e 2.8  e

2.2  e

1.3  e 0.7  e

0.6  e 17.4  e

91  

:

  0.4

:

2 313  

1.9   2.7

2.4  

2 621  

0.1  i 0.4  i

4.1  i

3.5

2.4

0.2

  2.3  

  3.4  

 i 0.7  i

1.3

7.6

0.4

8.2  

  14.5  

 i

0.5  i

314  p

1.2  p 1.2  p

0  p

2.2  p 0.5  p 1.2  p

2.2  p

JP (²)

27 343  i

1.9  i 1.0  i

7.2  i

4.1

 i 13.2  i

8.4

 i

4.0  i

KR (²)

5 994  ip

2.2  p 3.3  p 3.2  p

1.5  p 7.6  p 26.9  p

6.1  p

RU (²)

4 792  i

:

  0.1

  22.1  

0.7

  2.1  

8.2

2.7  

US (²)

96 827 ip

0.7  ip 0.5  ip 8.2  ip

1.0  ip 1.7  ip 0.4  ip 22.2 ip

(¹) Exceptions to the reference year 2009:  2007: EL, 2008: PT, CH and US. 
(²) Flag ‘i’: 
DE: unrevised breakdown not adding to the revised total; 
FR: the sum of the breakdown does not add to the total. Total GBAORD and ‘Defence’ are 
underestimated or based on underestimated data. ‘Education’ and ‘Culture, recreation, 
religion and mass media’ are included elsewhere; ‘Political and social systems, structures 
and processes’ includes other classes. 
AT, JP and US: federal or central government only. 
JP: defence is underestimated or based on underestimated data. 
US: total excludes data for the R&D content of general payment to the higher education 
sector for combined education and research (public GUF).
SE, RU and KR: the sum of the breakdown does not add to the total.  

Source: Eurostat (online data code: gba_nabsfin07), OECD-MSTI for KR, JP and US 

24

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Government budget appropriations or outlays on R&D (GBAORD)

1

Table 1.3 (Part II): Total GBAORD in EUR million and by 
socio-economic objectives (NABS 2007) as a percentage of 
total, EU-27 and selected countries, 2009 (¹)

n
o

i
l
l
i

m
R
U
E
n

i

D
R
O
A
B
G

l
a
t
o
T

e
r
u
t
l
u
c
i
r
g
A

EU-27 

87 605  s 3.7  s

BE

BG

CZ

DK

2 291  p 1.4  p

118   19.5  

939  p 4.6  p

2 200  

3.4  

DE (²)

20 851  p 3.1 ip

EE

IE

EL 

ES

96  e 7.6  e

929  p 12.3  p

673  p 5.6  p

7 828  b 8.1  b

FR (²)

14 928  i 1.9  i

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

70  

0  

92.6  

9 778  

3.4  

81   10.8  

38   16.0  

196  

0.4  

429  

8.7  

12  p 8.0  

4 527  p 5.0  p

AT (²)

2 203 ip 1.7 ip

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

1 052  b 4.2  b

1 483  

5.8  

360  

7.7  

277  

3.3  

190  

6.0  

1 928  p 5.2  p

SE (²)

2 662 ip 1.5  p

UK

IS

NO

CH

HR

JP (²)

KR (²)

RU (²)

US (²)

11 341  e 2.7  e

91   17.8  

:

2 313  

7.5  

2 621  

1.8  i

314  p 1.0  p

27 343  i 3.8  i

0.7  

0.2  i

0.1 p

0.2  i

5 994 ip 6.4  p

:

4 792  i 2.2  

96 827 ip 1.7 ip

3.1  

0.3 ip

n
o
i
t
a
c
u
d
E

1.2  s

0.3 p

4.8  

0.4 p

2.8  

1.0 ip

2.1  e

3.7 p

2.2 p

1.2 b

:

 i

3.2  

3.7  

2.2  

3.8  

0.2  

0.2  

0.3 p

1.2 ip

1.0  

0.8  

4.7  

0.3  

1.5  

0.4 p

0.5 p

0.7  e

d
n
a
n
o
g

i

i
l
e
r

,

n
o
i
t
a
e
r
c
e
r

,

e
r
u
t
l
u
C

a
i

d
e
m
s
s
a
m

,
s
m
e
t
s
y
s
l
a
i
c
o
s
d
n
a
l
a
c
i
t
i
l

o
P

s
e
s
s
e
c
o
r
p
d
n
a
s
e
r
u
t
c
u
r
t
s

m
o
r
f
d
e
c
n
a
n
fi
D
&
R

:

e
g
d
e
l
w
o
n
k

f
o
t
n
e
m
e
c
n
a
v
d
a
l
a
r
e
n
e
G

F
U
G

m
o
r
f
d
e
c
n
a
n
fi
D
&
R

:

e
g
d
e
l
w
o
n
k

F
U
G
n
a
h
t
s
e
c
r
u
o
s
r
e
h
t
o

f
o
t
n
e
m
e
c
n
a
v
d
a
l
a
r
e
n
e
G

1.2

 s

2.1  p

0.4

2.7  s

31.8  s

17.5  s

3.5  p 16.6  p

25.4  p

0.8

10.0  

50.8  

0.7  p

1.0  p 27.3  p

30.4  p

e
c
n
e
f
e
D

6.2  s

0.2 p

0.6  

2.3 p

0.5  

5.7 ip

1.0  e

0.0 p

0.5 p

2.8 b

6.8  i

0.7  

0.0  

0.4  

0.1  

0  

0  

1.8 p

0.0 ip

3.4  

0.2  

3.4  

9.4  

4.4  

1.8 p

8.4 p

2.7

44.4  

18.5  

1.9  ip 37.4  ip

17.2  ip

3.5  e

0  

38.7  e

1.7  p 24.9  p

31.9  p

1.0  p 50.7  p

11.4  p

1.5  b 25.6  b

17.8  b

 i

24.6  i

19.6  i

31.7  

7.3  

31.6  

42.1  

:

34.0  

0.4  

0  

16.2  

21.9  

1.7

8.6

0.2

0.4

0.9

20.3

1.5

2.0

9.9  b 16.4  b

22.3  bi

1.3

1.4

2.8

1.4

31.6  

27.2  

:

19.8  

4.1  

36.1  

27.6  

34.0  

4.5  p 25.4  p

17.0  p

2.1  p 61.7  p

6.0  p

1.9  e

23.8  e

19.8  e

21.4  e

53.7

4.9

1.3

12.8  

:

34.1  

12.5  

 i

62.0  

27.4  

1.8  p 53.9  p

33.3  p

0.4

 i

34.2  i

17.7  i

:

4.5  

0.6  i

0.1 p

3.7  i

:

0.1

:

:

23.6  ip 17.2 p

:

:

1.6

1.1  ip

4.2  e

0.0  p

1.0  p

1.4  b

:

 i

1.5

1.3

2.6

0

0.7

0.9

0.6

1.1

2.3

1.1

3.6

4.0

0.5  p

0.2  p

2.0  e

:

0.8

0.2

 i

1.3  p

0.4

 i

:

0.2

27.7  

26.0  

0.6  

85.2  

0.5  

0.4  p

0.5  ip

3.6  p 44.3  p

18.1  p

1.4  ip 57.0  ip

12.9  ip

0  ip

0.5  ip

0  i

6.1  ip 56.6 ip

(¹) Exceptions to the reference year 2009:  2007: EL, 2008: PT, CH and US. 
(²) Flag ‘i’:
DE: unrevised breakdown not adding to the revised total. 
FR: the sum of the breakdown does not add to the total. Total GBAORD and ‘Defence’ are 
underestimated or based on underestimated data. ‘Education’ and ‘Culture, recreation, 
religion and mass media’ are included elsewhere; ‘Political and social systems, structures 
and processes’ includes other classes.
AT, JP and US: federal or central government only. 
JP: defence is underestimated or based on underestimated data. 
US: total excludes data for the R&D content of general payment to the higher education 
sector for combined education and research (public GUF).
SE, RU and KR: the sum of the breakdown does not add to the total. 

Source: Eurostat (online data code: gba_nabsfin07), OECD-MSTI for KR, JP and US

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

25

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
R&D expenditure

R&D expenditure

2

In 2008, R&D intensity (i.e. R&D expenditure as a percentage 
of GDP) in the EU-27 stood at 1.90 %, up 1.85 % on 2007, but 
still below the 3 % target set for 2010 by the Lisbon strategy. 
The  3  %  target  will  be  maintained  for  the  next  ten  years  as 
one of the five key targets of the Europe 2020 strategy. R&D 
intensity in the EU was well below Japan (2007: 3.44 %), South 
Korea (2007: 3.21 %) and the United States (2008: 2.76 %), but 
slightly higher than China (2007: 1.44 %).

Among  the  EU  Member  States,  only  Sweden  (3.75  %)  and 
Finland (3.73 %) exceeded the EU goal of devoting 3 % of GDP 
to R&D and also outperformed Japan, the United States and 
South Korea. Though Denmark (2.72 %), Austria (2.67 %) and 
Germany (2.63 %) did not achieve the 3 % goal, they were well 
above the EU-27 average.

R&D  expenditure  in  the  EU-27  increased  by  an  average  of 
3.3 % a year between 2003 and 2008, reaching EUR 237 billion 
in  2008.  Germany,  France,  Italy  and  the  United  Kingdom 
together accounted for more than half of the EU-27 total.

The  business  enterprise  sector  (BES)  was  the  largest  of  the 
four  main  institutional  sectors  of  R&D  performance  in 
2008, accounting for 63.9 % of EU-27 R&D expenditure. The 
higher education sector (HES) and government sector (GOV) 
followed, with shares of 22.4 % and 12.7 % respectively.

In the EU-27, 55.0 % of R&D expenditure was financed by the 
BES and 33.5 % by GOV. At national level, three EU Member 
States achieved the second goal set by the Lisbon strategy of 
having two thirds of R&D expenditure financed by the BES: 
Luxembourg (76.0 %), Finland (70.3 %) and Germany (67.9 %).

In  many  of  the  countries  under  review,  the  ‘manufacturing’ 
sector received the greatest share of business enterprise R&D 
expenditure. This was notably the case in Germany, Slovenia 
and Finland, where 88.7 %, 88.2 % and 80.0 % respectively of 
R&D expenditure by the BES went on manufacturing.

The  breakdown  of  business  enterprise  R&D  expenditure 
(BERD)  by  size  class  reveals  that  firms  with  more  than  250 
employees generally invest most in R&D. In six EU Member 
States, these large firms accounted for 80 % or more of BERD. 
In  Greece,  Spain,  Cyprus,  Latvia  and  Slovakia,  on  the  other 
hand, large businesses accounted for less than 50 % of BERD.

In  four  EU  Member  States  the  R&D  intensity  of  the  leading 
region was above 5.0 %. Braunschweig (DE) came out top in 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

29

2 R&D expenditure 

Germany  (6.77  %),  followed  by  East  Anglia  for  the  United 
Kingdom  (5.72  %),  Pohjois-Suomi  for  Finland  (5.38  %)  and 
Hovedstaden  for  Denmark  (5.09  %).  There  were  substantial 
regional disparities in all these countries.

30

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

R&D expenditure

2

Figure 2.1: R&D intensity (R&D expenditure as % of GDP), 
EU-27, EU-15, China, Japan, South Korea and the United 
States, 2003–2008

% of GDP

4.0

3.5

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0

3.44

3.21

1.44

2.76

1.99
1.90

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

EU-27(¹)
Japan

EU-15(¹)
South Korea(²)

China 
United States(³)

(¹) EU: Eurostat estimate. 
(²) Break in series in 2007.
(³) Provisional data for 2008; excludes most or all capital expenditure.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: rd_e_gerdtot), OECD-MSTI for CN, KR, JP and US 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

31

2 R&D expenditure 

Figure 2.2: R&D intensity (R&D expenditure as % of GDP), 
EU-27 and selected countries, 2008 (1)

3.75

3.73

3.44

3.21

2.90

2.76

2.72

2.67

2.65

2.63

SE(³)

FI

JP

KR

CH

US(5)

DK(³)

AT(³)

IS

DE(³)

FR(4)

BE(4)

EU-27(²)

UK(4)

SI

NL(4)

NO(4)

LU(4)

PT(4)

CZ

CN

IE(4)

ES

EE(4)

IT(4)

RU

HU

HR

LT

TR

PL(4)

LV

RO

EL(³)

MT(4)

BG(4)

SK

CY(4)

2.02

1.92

1.90

1.88

1.66

1.63

1.62

1.62

1.51

1.47

1.44

1.43

1.35

1.29

1.18

1.03

1.00

0.90

0.80

0.72

0.61

0.61

0.58

0.58

0.54

0.49

0.47

0.46

0

1

2

3

4

 % of GDP

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2007 (EL, TR, CN, KR, JP), 2004 (CH). 
(2) Eurostat estimate.
(3) National estimate. 
(4) Provisional data. 
(5) Excludes most or all capital expenditure, provisonal data. 

Source: Eurostat (online data code: rd_e_gerdtot), OECD-MSTI for CN, KR, JP and US

32

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
R&D expenditure

2

Table 2.3: R&D expenditure in EUR million by sector of 
performance, EU-27 and selected countries, 2008 (1)

Business 

All sectors

enterprise 

sector

Government 

sector

Higher 

Private 

education 

non-profit 

sector

sector

EU-27

237 001  s

151 449 s

30 007 s

53 193 s

2 351 s

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU(²)

MT

NL(²)

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

IS

NO

CH(²)

HR

TR

CN

JP

KR

RU

6 622  p

4 560 p

167  p

52 p

2 169  

1 342

6 338  e

4 445 e

569 p

97 p

454

200 e

1 407 p

16 p

364

1 664 e

65 622  e

45 822 e

9 100 e

10 700 e

208  p

2 600  p

1 311  e

90 p

1 687 p

353 e

14 701  

8 074

39 423  p

24 837 p

18 587  p

9 453 p

79  p

142  

258  

638  p

1 059  

31  p

9 686  p

7 517  e

2 194  p

2 513  p

809  

617  

305  

18 p

35

61

520 p

557 i

20 p

5 325 p

5 304 e

679 p

1 258 p

242

398

131

6 871  

5 102

12 314  e

9 119 e

34 144  p

21 931 p

272  

149

5 006  p

2 695 p

8 486  

426  

3 410  

35 614  

110 116  

24 589

11 836  

6 257

188

1 407

25 744

85 770

18 747

7 446

24

200 p

281 e

2 672

6 330 p

2 463 p

18 p

39

60

99 p

248 i

1 p

1 256 ip

402 e

775 p

194 p

332

135

100

552

547 e

2 842 p

49

732 p

91 i

107

360

6 850

8 554

2 866

3 566

89

713 p

661 e

3 932

7 780 p

6 054

37 p

67

137

19 p

233 i

10 p

3 105 p

1 792 e

738 p

845 p

234

83

74

1 181

2 624 e

8 593 p

68

1 579 p

1 943

129

1 643

3 021

13 868

2 619

793

86 p

2 p

8

30 e

:

4

:

17 e

23

475 p

618 p

7 p

:

:

:

:

0

:

i

19 e

2 p

217 p

2

1

0

36

24 e

779 p

7

:

194

1

:

:

1 924

357

31

US(²)

270 660  ip

196 563 ip

28 700 ip

34 786 ip

10 611 ip

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2007 (EL, TR, CN, JP, KR), 2004 (CH). 
(2) Flag ‘i’:
     HU: incomplete breakdown of R&D expenditure by sector of performance;  
     NL: GOV sector includes PNP sector; 
     US and CH: GOV sector includes federal or central government only;  
     US: excludes most or all capital expenditure. 

Source: Eurostat (online data code: rd_e_gerdtot), OECD-MSTI for CN, KR, JP and US

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

33

 
 
 
 
 
              
2 R&D expenditure 

Figure 2.4: Average annual growth rate (AAGR) of R&D 
expenditure, EU-27 and selected countries, 2003–2008 (1)(2)

MT(³)

TR

CN

LV

EE(³)

PT(³)

RO

KR(4)

LT

SI

CY(³)

CZ

ES

IE(³)

PL(³)

AT(5)

BG(³)

FI

EL(5)

CH

HU(6)

JP

LU(³)

IS

UK(³)

US(7)

EU -27(8)

SK

DK(5)

BE(³)

DE(5)

HR

RU

IT(³)

SE(9)

NO(³)

NL(³)

FR(³)

19.1

18.7

18.2

18.0

17.6

16.8

15.9

11.6

11.0

10.7

10.2

8.6

8.4

8.0

7.8

6.3

5.8

5.2

4.5

4.5

4.3

4.2

4.0

4.0

3.7

3.6

3.3

3.2

2.9

2.8

2.6

2.5

2.5

2.3

2.3

1.5

1.1

0.5

0

5

10

15

20

 %

(1) Calculated on R&D expenditure in PPS at 2000 constant prices. 
(2) Exceptions to the reference period 2003-2008: 2003-2007 (EL, TR, CN, KR, JP);

2000-2004 (CH). 

(3) Provisional data for 2008.
(4) 2003: excludes R&D in social sciences and humanities; 2007: break in series. 
(5) National estimate for 2008.
(6) 2003 defence excluded (all or mostly). 
(7) Excludes most or all capital expenditure, provisional data for 2008.  
(8) Eurostat estimate. 
(9) 2003 underestimated or based on underestimated data, national estimates for 
2008. 
Source: Eurostat (online data code: rd_e_gerdtot), OECD-MSTI for CN, KR, JP and US

34

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
R&D expenditure

2

Figure 2.5: R&D expenditure by sector of performance as a 
percentage of total, EU-27 and selected countries ranked by 
R&D intensity (R&D expenditure as % of GDP), 2008 (1)

R&D intensity

SE(²)

FI

JP

KR

CH(³)

US(4)

DK(²)

AT(²)

IS

DE(²)

FR(5)

BE(5)

EU-27(6)

UK(5)

SI

NL(7)

LU(5)

NO(5)

PT(5)

CZ

CN

IE(5)

ES

EE(5)

IT(5)

RU

HU(8)

HR

LT

TR

LV

PL(5)

EL(²)

RO

MT(5)

BG(5)

SK

CY(5)

74

74

78

76

74

73

55

70

71

70

63

69

64

64

65

82

55

54

50

62

72

65

4

8

8

12

21

17

13

11

1

23

2

1

2

11

13

4

18

3

5

16

9

13

8

26

24

25

14

16

20

21

22

25

2

1

1

1

2

13

15

8

8

18

23

12

13

25

22

13

32

32

16

3

17

9

8

34

21

19

27

27

43

33

30

53

48

47

50

22

30

34

29

32

2

3

7

1

55

43

51

63

53

44

41

24

25

31

27

30

31

23

28

21

11

35

41

65

22

43

23

0%

20%

40%

BES

GOV

2

46

58

33

60%

HES

10

1

24

9

100%

80%

PNP

3.75

3.73

3.44

3.21

2.90

2.76

2.72

2.67

2.65

2.63

2.02

1.92

1.90

1.88

1.66

1.63

1.62

1.62

1.51

1.47

1.44

1.43

1.35

1.29

1.18

1.03

1.00

0.90

0.80

0.72

0.61

0.61

0.58

0.58

0.54

0.49

0.47

0.46

(1) Exceptions to the reference year : 2007 (EL, TR, CN, KR, JP);  2004 (CH). 
(2) National estimate. 
(3) GOV sector includes federal or central government only. 
(4) Excludes most or all capital expenditure ; GOV sector includes federal or central 
government only ; provisional data.  
(5) Provisional data. 
(6) Eurostat estimate. 
(7) GOV sector includes PNP sector: provisional data.  
(8) Incomplete breakdown of R&D expenditure by sector of performance. 
Source: Eurostat (online data code: rd_e_gerdtot), OECD-MSTI for CN, KR, JP and US

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

35

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2 R&D expenditure 

Figure 2.6: R&D expenditure by source of funds as a 
percentage of total, EU-27 and selected countries ranked by 
R&D intensity (R&D expenditure as % of GDP), 2008 (1)

R&D intensity

22

5

9

SE

FI

JP(7)

KR

CH

US(4)

DK(³)

AT(³)

IS

DE

FR(²)

BE

EU -27(6)

UK(²)

SI

NL

LU(³)

NO

PT

CZ

CN(5)

IE(²)

ES

EE(²)

IT

RU

HU

HR

LT

TR

LV

PL(²)

EL

RO

MT(²)

BG

SK

CY

64

70

78

74

70

67

61

46

50

50

68

61

55

47

51

63

76

70

45

47

52

50

45

16

25

22

23

27

1

7

6

2

5

6

1

4

10

16

1

10

28

4

2

8

3

13

3

9

18

6

6

1

11

18

2

8

3

5

1

5

25

1

2

16

4

7

1

16

4

10

1

6

9

8

1

2

16

8

25

37

39

39

22

34

30

6

31

36

45

45

41

32

44

50

44

65

42

49

56

47

65

50%

60

47

70

28

57

52

47

4

1

3

23

4

5

3

19

3

4

21

2

8

1

12

4

15

75%

100%

3.75

3.73

3.44

3.21

2.90

2.76

2.72

2.67

2.65

2.63

2.02

1.92

1.90

1.88

1.66

1.63

1.62

1.62

1.51

1.47

1.44

1.43

1.35

1.29

1.18

1.03

1.00

0.90

0.80

0.72

0.61

0.61

0.58

0.58

0.54

0.49

0.47

0.46

34

42

29

48

41

48

21

27

30

31

23

51

34

35

25%

GOV

16

BES

0%

Other national sources

ABR

(1) Exceptions to the reference year for R&D expenditure:  2007: (BE, BG, DE, IE, ES, IT, CY,   
LU, PT, SE, TR, NO, CN, KR, JP), 2005 (EL), 2004 (CH), 2003 (NL); 
Exceptions to the reference year for R&D intensity: 2007 (EL, TR, CN, KR and JP),  
2004 (CH).
(2) Provisional data.
(3) National estimate. 
(4) Excludes most or all capital expenditure, provisional data.  
(5) The sum of the breakdown does not add to the total.   
(6) Eurostat estimate.
(7) GOV and Other national sources: national results adjusted by the Secretariat to meet 
Frascati Manual norms. 

Source: Eurostat (online data code: rd_e_gerdtot and rd_e_gerdfund), OECD-MSTI for 
CN, KR, JP and US

36

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
R&D expenditure

2

Figure 2.7: Business enterprise R&D expenditure by sector 
of activity (NACE Rev 1.1) as a percentage of total, EU-27 and 
selected countries, 2007 (1)

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

 EL (²)

ES

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

IS

NO

CH

HR

TR

JP

KR

 US (³)

89

68

61

34

34

44

53

45

66

71

36

54

51

42

73

70

73

70

88

80

72

80

34

51

51

51

41

47

41

30

62

68

70

88

89

30

37

45

34

26

65

64

56

47

62

45

49

58

24

29

23

29

2

1

2

11

1

8

2

2

3

3

2

4

60

26

48

47

59

48

50

1

1

1

2

1

1

1

6

23

11

19

27

5

9

9

20

1

1

10

7

4

31

30

1

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Manufacturing

Services

Other activities

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2006 (IT), 2005 (IE,EL), 2004 (CH) FR: breakdown  
according to the principle activity of the enterprises is not available.
(2) Provisional data.
(3) Excludes most or all capital expenditure. 

Source: Eurostat (online data code: rd_e_berdind), OECD-MSTI for KR, JP and US

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

37

2 R&D expenditure 

Table 2.8: Business enterprise R&D expenditure (BERD) in 
EUR million and by size class as a percentage of total, EU-27 
and selected countries, 2007 (1)

Total EUR 

Less than 10 

million

employees

Between 10 

Between 50 

More than 

and 49 

and 249 

250 

employees

employees

employees

EU-27

BE(²)

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI(³)

SE

UK

NO

CH

HR(³)

JP(³)

KR

146 720  s

4 106  

43  

1 211  

4 030

43 034  

82  

1 330  

357  

7 454  

24 470  p

6 979  

16  

41  

66  

408  

492

21  

5495  

4 846  

535  

1 011  

272  

299  

100  

4 513  

8 805  

23 543  

2 488  

6 257  

141  

85 770  

18 747

US(²)(³)

196 474  i

:

2.4  p

5.6  

1.9  

6.2  

0.5  

6.5

2.6

4.3  

4.9  

1.9  

1.0  

39.9  

7.9  

1.7  

:

7.6  

:

:

2.6

0.6  

2.2  

3.5  

3.6  

2.2  

2.4

:

2.5  

0.0  

1.2  

0.4  

:

1.2  

:

:

13.7  p

11.6  

8.0  

8.6

2.6  

26.2  

17.3

29.4  

20.6  

5.5  

4.1  

22.2  

14.4  

13.7  

10.3  

10.7  

19.0  

6.8

7.4  

4.8  

10.1  

9.9  

7.2  

9.0  

7.3  

6.5  

3.7  

18.7  

6.8  

6.7  

:

9.4

:

:

:

22.8  p

56.9  p

30.9  

23.1  

17.0

7.6  

13.7  

26.6

26.0  

28.9  

11.0  

11.9  

9.3  

29.4  

28.8  

17.9  

10.8  

23.9  

15.4

17.8  

27.9  

26.2  

26.6  

15.4  

45.5  

10.3  

11.8  

11.9  

30.8  

12.4  

45.5  

6.4  i

12.2

8.7  i

52.0  

67.0  

68.2

89.3  

53.7  

53.5

40.3  

45.7  

81.7  

83.0  

28.6  

48.3  

55.7  

71.8  

70.9  

57.1  

77.5  

72.3  

66.7  

61.5  

59.9  

73.8  

43.2  

80.0 i

81.7  

81.8  

50.4  

79.5  

47.5  i

93.7  

77.3

84.3  i

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2006 (BE), 2005 (IE, EL, LU), 2004 (CH), 2003 (IT). 
(2) Incomplete breakdown of business R&D expenditure by size class. 
(3) Flag ‘i’: 
     FI and HR: includes other classes; 
    JP: underestimated or based on underestimated data;  
    US: excludes most or all capital expenditure.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: rd_e_berdsize)

38

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
              
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
R&D expenditure

2

Figure 2.9: Regional disparities (NUTS 2 level) in R&D 
expenditure as a percentage of GDP, 2007 (1)

BE(³)

Région de Bruxelles-Capitale (BE)

Région Wallonne (BE)

BG

Severen tsentralen (BG)

Yugozapaden (BG)

CZ

DK

DE

Severozápad (CZ)

Strední Cechy (CZ)

Syddanmark (DK)

Hovedstaden (DK)

Brandenburg - Nordost (DE)

Braunschweig (DE)

EE

IE(4)

Border, Midlands and Western (IE)

Southern and Eastern (IE)

Dytiki Makedonia (EL)

Kriti (EL)

EL

ES

Ciudad Autónoma de Ceuta (ES)

Comunidad de Madrid (ES)

Corse (FR)

Midi-Pyrénées (FR)

Valle d'Aosta (IT)

Lazio (IT)

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU(5)

HU

Dél-Dunántúl (HU)

Közép-Magyarország (HU)

MT(4)

NL(5)

AT

PL

Zeeland (NL)

Noord-Brabant (NL)

Burgenland (AT)

Steiermark (AT)

Lubuskie (PL)

Mazowieckie (PL)

PT

Região Autónoma da Madeira (PT)

Lisboa (PT)

RO

Centru (RO)

Bucuresti - Ilfov (RO)

SI

Vzhodna Slovenija (SI)

Zahodna Slovenija (SI)

SK

Stredné Slovensko (SK)

Bratislavský kraj (SK)

FI

SE(6)

UK(5)

IS

NO

CH

HR

TR

Åland (FI)

Pohjois-Suomi (FI)

Mellersta Norrland (SE)

Sydsverige (SE)

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly (UK)

East Anglia (UK)

EU-27 = 1.85(2)

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2005 (EL, IT), 2004 (FR, CH), 2003 (NL). 
(2) Eurostat estimate. 
(3) By NUTS 1 regions. 
(4) Provisional data. 
(5) National estimates.
(6) In some cases R&D expenduture are allocated to the head office. 

Source: Eurostat (online data code: rd_e_gerdreg)

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

39

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
II

Monitoring the knowledge 
workers

R&D personnel

R&D personnel

3

In 2007, R&D personnel comprised 1.57 % of total employment 
in  the  EU-27  (in  head  count  —  HC).  At  national  level,  the 
highest figures were in Finland (3.19 %), Iceland (3.13 %) and 
Luxembourg (2.74 %). 

In  2008,  the  EU-27  had  2.5  million  people  —  full-time 
equivalents (FTE) — working in R&D. In EU as a whole, the 
business  enterprise  sector  was  the  largest  sectoral  employer, 
with more than half of all R&D personnel (1.3 million FTE). 
The national pattern was very varies, though. In Bulgaria, the 
government sector employed the most R&D personnel, while 
the higher education sector accounted for the highest share in 
Estonia, Greece, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal 
and Slovakia.

Between  2003  and  2008,  R&D  personnel  measured  in  FTE 
grew  by  3.3  %  a  year  on  average  in  the  EU-27,  though  again 
there  were  substantial  variations  between  Member  States. 
The  highest  increases,  of  more  than  10  %,  were  recorded  by 
Malta (17.0 %), Portugal (14.0 %), Czech Republic (12.7 %) and 
Slovenia (11.2 %), while three countries reported a decline  — 
Finland (-0.2 %), Poland (-0.6 %) and Romania (-1.7 %).

The  breakdown  of  researchers  by  institutional  sector  reveals 
a  complex  picture  across  the  EU-27.  In  the  EU-27,  45.9  %  of 
researchers (in FTE) were employed in the business enterprise 
sector  in  2008,  while  40.4  %  were  in  the  higher  education 
sector and 12.5 % in the government sector.

R&D remains largely a male field of work: in 2007, women in 
R&D (35.0 %) and female researchers (31.7 %) in HC were in 
a  minority  in  the  EU-27.  Lithuania  (54.5  %),  Latvia  (54.3  %) 
and Bulgaria (50.8 %) were the only countries where women 
accounted for more than half of R&D personnel. In numbers 
of  researchers,  only  Lithuania  and  Latvia  reached  a  gender 
balance, with 50.4 % and 52.4 % women respectively.

In the business enterprise sector, manufacturing accounted for 
the highest shares of researchers in most EU Member States. 
However, in Denmark, Estonia, Portugal, Slovakia and Iceland 
more than 60 % of BES researchers (in FTE) were employed in 
services.

In  2007,  North  Eastern  Scotland  (UK)  was  the  leading 
European  region  for  the  share  of  R&D  personnel  in  total 
employment,  with  5.7  %.  This  was  followed  by  the  capital 
regions of Hovedstaden (DK), with 4.95 %, Praha (CZ), with 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

45

3 R&D personnel 

4.80  %,  and  Wien  (AT),  with  4.73  %.  As  we  can  see,  capital 
regions  were  well  represented  among  the  leading  regions. 
Apart from Trøndelag (NO) and Braunschweig (DE), the share 
of R&D personnel in total employment was below 4 % in all 
other European regions.

The  largest  discrepancy  between  the  highest  and  lowest-
ranking  regions  within  a  given  country  was  in  the  United 
Kingdom  (5.53  percentage  points),  and  the  smallest  gap  in 
Ireland, at 0.24 percentage points.

46

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

R&D personnel

3

Figure 3.1: R&D personnel (HC) as a percentage of persons 
employed, EU-27, EU-15, Japan and South Korea, 2002–2007

1.81

1.80

1.74

1.57

% of persons employed

1.90

1.80

1.70

1.60

1.50

1.40

1.30

1.20

1.10

1.00

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

EU-27(¹)
Japan

EU-15(¹)
South Korea(²)

(1) Eurostat estimate.
(2) 2002-2006 excluding R&D in social sciences and humanities; 2007 break in series.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: rd_p_perslf), OECD-MSTI for JP and KR

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

47

3 R&D personnel 

Figure 3.2: R&D personnel (HC) as a percentage of persons 
employed, EU-27 and selected countries, 2007 (1)

FI

IS

LU(²)

SE(³)

NO

DK

AT

CH

BE

DE

JP

KR

FR

UK(²)

ES

EU - 27(4)

CZ

IE(5)

SI

EE

EL

IT

NL

HU

PT

LT

RU(³)

HR

LV

MT

SK

PL

CY

BG

TR

RO

3.19

3.13

2.74

2.58

2.45

2.44

2.22

2.12

1.91

1.89

1.81

1.80

1.77

1.73

1.63

1.57

1.48

1.46

1.45

1.42

1.41

1.33

1.32

1.26

1.21

1.20

1.14

1.06

0.99

0.99

0.99

0.80

0.66

0.61

0.56

0.45

0

1

2

3

4

% of persons employed 

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2006 (IT), 2005 (EL), 2004 (CH), 2003 (NL). 
(2) National estimate.  
(3) Underestimated or based on underestimated data. 
(4) Eurostat estimate. 
(5) Provisional data. 

Source: Eurostat (online data code: rd_p_perslf), OECD-MSTI for JP and KR

48

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
R&D personnel

3

Table 3.3: R&D personnel in FTE by sector of performance, 
EU-27 and selected countries, 2008 (1)

All sectors

Business 

enterprise 

sector

Government 

sector

Higher 

Private 

education 

non-profit 

sector

sector

EU-27

2 455 192 s

1 276 099 s

340 128 s

809 877 s

29 088 s

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK(²)

IS

NO

CH(²)

HR

TR

CN(²)

JP

KR

RU

NL(²)

88 723 p

48 557 p

12 097 ip

28 069 p

57 494 e

40 143 e

2 700 e

14 474 e

74 596 p

12 809 p

18 262 p

43 479 p

58 733 p

33 938 p

4 032 p

20 166 p

17 219 p

2 851 p

9 770 p

4 511 p

50 808

26 069

11 386

13 147

48 096 e

31 965 e

1 755 e

14 093 e

517 000 e

328 000 e

81 000 e

108 000 e

5 086 p

1 845 p

19 348

11 207 p

747

1 350

2 389

6 791 e

35 629 e

11 660 e

4 584 e

19 172 e

215 676

372 326

95 207 b

213 361

41 139

50 664

78 846

102 509

598 p

87 p

206  

283 e

:

105  

:

213 e

484  

5 792  

236 261 p

101 017 p

35 815 e

91 070 p

8 359 p

1 315 p

325 p

295 e

6 533

12 632

1 231

1 944

1 526

2 977

565

3 776

7 711

4 744 p

3 707 p

809 p

228 p

27 403

11 373

8 050

7 980

905 p

529 p

41 p

335 p

130 p

:

:

:

:

0  

:

i 

176 e

46 p

49 114 p

15 279 p

4 890 p

24 128 p

4 818 p

30 390

11 594

15 576

56 698

11 525

6 205

2 743

33 111

10 312

3 260

4 207

7 122

8 433

2 106

8 609

15 968

77 549 e

58 782 e

2 937 e

15 601 e

120  

23  

18  

497  

229 e

358 284 ip

167 685 p

17 661 p

166 116 ip

6 823 p

3 117

1 481

733

808

95  

35 676 p

18 682 p

5 653 p

11 341 p

52 250

10 583

63 377

33 085

2 575

24 261

810 i

18 355 e

3 354

9 572

4 640

29 543

1 740 000 i

1 190 000 i

295 503 i

253 901 i

937 865

269 409

869 772

620 004

184 607

477 284

63 162

20 928

240 932

60 656

282 929

106 816

:

:

14  

:

:

13 767  

3 218

2 744

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2007 (EL, FR, TR, CN, JP, KR), 2004 (CH). 
(2) Flag ‘i’:
     NL: GOV sector includes PNP sector; 
     UK: underestimated or based on underestimated data; 
     CH: federal or central government only;  
     CN: data do not comply with Frascati Manual recommendations.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: rd_p_persocc), OECD-MSTI for CN, JP and KR

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

49

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3 R&D personnel 

Figure 3.4: Average annual growth rate (AAGR) of R&D 
personnel (FTE), EU-27 and selected countries, 2003–2008 (1)

MT(²)

PT(²)

TR(³)

CZ

CN(4)

SI

KR(5)

IT(²)

AT(6)

CY(²)

ES

LV

IE

LT

NO(²)

EE(²)

LU(²)

EU- 27(7)

HU(8)

SK

HR

DK(6)

EL(6)

UK(9)

BE(²)

BG(²)

FR

DE(6)

JP

SE(6)

IS

NL(²)

FI

PL(²)

RO

RU

17.0

14.0

13.4

12.7

12.4

11.2

9.7

7.9

7.6

7.4

7.3

6.1

6.0

5.5

4.2

4.2

3.4

3.3

3.3

3.1

3.0

2.9

2.8

2.6

2.4

2.2

2.1

1.8

1.5

1.2

1.2

0.6

-0.2

-0.6

-1.7

-2.2

-5

0

5

10

15

20

% 

(1) Exceptions to the reference period: 2003-2007 (EL, FR, TR, CN, JP, KR), 2004-2008 
(AT). 
(2) 2008 provisional data.  
(3) 2003: underestimated or based on underestimated data. 
(4) Data do not comply with Frascati Manual recommendations. 
(5) 2003 excluding R&D in social sciences and humanities; 2007 break in series. 
(6) 2007, 2008: national estimate. 
(7) Eurostat estimate. 
(8) 2003 defence excluded (all or mostly). 
(9) 2008: underestimated or based on underestimated data; provisional data; 
2003: national estimate. 
Source: Eurostat (online data code: rd_p_persocc), OECD-MSTI for CN, JP and KR 

50

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
R&D personnel

3

Figure 3.5: Researchers (FTE) by sector of performance as a 
percentage of total, EU-27 and selected countries, 2008 (1)

EU - 27(²)

BE(³)

BG(³)

CZ

DK(4)

DE(4)

EE(³)

IE(5)

EL(4)

ES

FR(6)

IT(³)

CY(³)

LV

LT

LU(³)

HU

MT(³)

NL(7)

AT(4)

PL(³)

PT(³)

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE(4)

UK(³)

IS

NO(8)

CH(9)

HR

TR

CN(¹0)

JP

KR

RU

13

13

7

53

46

49

44

63

60

31

13

11

54

55

29

35

37

17

17

23

11

11

14

19

20

24

5

4

15

53

59

12

59

69

66

40

43

33

31

32

26

41

47

41

31

1

1

1

2

1

2

4

7

67

24

8

43

48

52

63

8

14

21

26

33

43

23

13

59

69

3

36

48

50

50

16

28

31

10

67

68

75

26

4

14

49

32

34

32

4

65

32

56

31

64

11

4

59

21

16

2

10

35

26

29

27

28

34

49

55

59

16

5

26

7

17

17

17

1

2

3

1

1

50

32

0%

20%

BES

40%

GOV

60%

80%

100%

HES

PNP

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2007 (EL, FR, TR, NO, CN, JP, KR), 2004 (CH). 
(2) Eurostat estimate. 
(3) Provisional data (in EE provisional data for total and BES only).  
(4) National estimate.
(5) BES: provisional data; 
     HES: national estimate.  
(6) GOV: defence excluded (all or mostly). 
(7) GOV sector includes PNP sector, provisional data. 
(8) BES and GOV: university graduates instead of researchers.
(9) Federal or central government only.  
(10) Data do not comply with Frascati Manual recommendations.
Source: Eurostat (online data code: rd_p_persocc), OECD-MSTI for CN, JP and KR  

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

51

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3 R&D personnel 

Figure 3.6: Percentage of women in total R&D personnel 
and among researchers (HC), EU-27 and selected countries, 
2007 (1)

54.5

54.3

50.4

52.4

50.8

46.8

49.1

44.6

44.3

46.7

46.0

44.7
44.7

LT

LV

BG

HR

EE

RO

SK

HU

PL

PT

RU(²)

EL

IS

SI

ES

CY

IT

NO

IE(³)

LU(4)

UK(4)

DK

SE(²)

EU-27(5)

FI

CZ

TR

BE

FR

CH

DE

AT

MT

NL

KR

JP

42.3

43.5

42.6

41.9

43.4

39.9

41.8
40.9

33.5

36.4

39.8

37.8

38.7

34.9

38.6

37.0

38.4

32.6

33.3

33.3

37.2

37.0

36.7

32.0

24.1

30.2

36.4

36.3
36.7

35.7

28.3

35.6

34.5
35.0

31.7

31.5

34.7

34.0

33.9

36.7

33.4

31.1
31.7

31.0

27.4

26.7

29.9

29.7

23.2

26.4

27.6

25.5

23.6

17.2

20.5

14.9

13.0

0

10

18.1

20

30

40

50

Total   R&D personnel

Researchers

60
% of total

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2006 (FR, IT), 2005 (EL), 2004 (CH), 2003 (NL). 
(2) Underestimated or based on underestimated data. 
(3) Provisional data. 
(4) National estimate.
(5) Eurostat estimate. 

Source: Eurostat (online data code: rd_p_persocc), OECD-MSTI for JP and KR  

52

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
R&D personnel

3

Figure 3.7: Business enterprise sector researchers in FTE by 
sector of activity (NACE Rev.1.1) as a percentage of total, EU-27 
and selected countries, 2007 (1)

BE(²)

75

21

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

IS

NO(³)

CH

HR

TR

JP

KR

US

85

78

62

54

53

54

36

32

47

41

36

41

49

51

62

73

56

67

50

50

75

75

68

74

33

35

34

35

44

55

89

82

3

2

1

1

5

2

5

4

2

4

1

4

5

1

1

1

3

1

3

1

1

3

44

46

46

14

18

37

64

63

51

55

60

59

50

49

35

39

49

26

32

26

24

24

31

64

24

61

63

58

42

44

26

15

9

15

7

1

2

3

1

63

35

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Manufacturing

Services

Other activities

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2006 (BE, IT), 2005 (IE, EL, IS), 2004 (CH) 
(2) Provisional data; breakdown does not equal to the total. 
(3) University graduates instead of researchers.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: rd_p_bempocc), OECD-MSTI for JP, KR and US 

UK: confidential data.

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

53

 
 
 
3 R&D personnel 

Figure 3.8: Regional disparities (NUTS 2 level) in R&D 
personnel (HC) as a percentage of persons employed, EU-27 
and selected countries, 2007 (1)

Région Wallonne (BE)

Région de Bruxelles Cap. (BE)

BE(³)

BG

CZ

DK

Severozapaden (BG)

Yugozapaden  (BG)

Severozápad  (CZ)

Praha (CZ)

Sjælland  (DK)

Hovedstaden (DK)

DE

Lüneburg (DE)

Braunschweig (DE)

EE

IE

Border, Midlands and Western  (IE)

Southern and  Eastern   (IE)

EL

Sterea Ellada  (EL)

Ipeiros (EL)

Ciudad Autónoma
de Ceuta (ES)

Comunidad  Autonoma de Madrid  (ES)

Champagne-Ardenne (FR)

Île de France (FR)         

Provincia Autonoma 
Bolzano -Bozen (IT)

Lazio (IT)

Közép -
Dunántú (HU)

Közép- Magyarország  (HU)

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL(4)

Drenthe (NL)

Utrecht (NL)

AT

Burgenland (AT)

Wien (AT)

Swietokrzyskie (PL)

Mazowieckie (PL)

PL

PT

Região Autónoma
da Madeira  (PT)

Lisboa (PT)

RO

Sud - Est  (RO)

Bucuresti - Ilfov (RO)

Vzhodna 
Slovenija (SI)

Západné
Slovensko (SK)

Åland (FI)

Mellersta 
Norrland  (SE)

Highlands and 
Islands (UK)

SI

SK

FI

SE(5)

UK(4)

IS

Zahodna  Slovenija  (SI)

Bratislavský  kraj  (SK)

Pohjois - Suomi (FI)

Stockholm  (SE)

North Eastern Scotland  (UK)

NO

Nord-Norge (NO)

Trøndelag  (NO)

CH

HR

TR

-1

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

%

EU-27 = 1.57 (2)

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2005 (EL, IT), 2004 (CH), 2003 (NL), 2001 (FR). 
(2) Eurostat estimate. 
(3) By NUTS 1 regions. 
(4) National estimate. 
(5) In some cases R&D personnel is allocated to the head office.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: rd_p_persreg)

54

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Human resources in 
Human resources in 
science and technology 
science and technology 
(HRST)
(HRST)

Human resources in science and technology (HRST)

4

Statistics  on  human  resources  in  science  and  technology 
(HRST)  monitor  supply  and  demand  for  highly  qualified 
persons.  Stocks and flows are the main statistics for HRST. 

In 2008, close to one third (29.8 %) of the EU population aged 
20–29 years was in tertiary (i.e. higher) education. Although 
the  percentage  varied  form  country  to  country,  it  was  above 
20 % in all EU Member States except Malta and Luxembourg. 
Finland  ranked  highest,  with  49.0  %,  followed  by  Greece 
(46.5 %) and Lithuania (40.7 %). 

At  EU  level,  about  a  quarter  of  tertiary-education  students 
chose  science  and  engineering  (S&E)  as  their  main  field  of 
study, representing 7.3 % of the population aged 20–29 years. 

In  the  EU-27,  55.3  %  of  students  in  higher  education  were 
women  in  2008,  yet  women  accounted  for  only  30.1  %  of 
science  and  engineering  students.  The  student  population 
grew on average by 4.2 % a year between 2003 and 2008, but 
the number of students in S&E rose more slowly (3.3 %).

In  terms  of  HRST  stocks,  the  EU  had  more  than  91  million 
highly  qualified  knowledge  workers  in  2009.  Of  these,  68 
million  were  considered  as  HRST  by  virtue  of  education 
(HRSTE),  61.7  million  by  virtue  of  occupation  (HRSTO) 
and 38.1 million by virtue of both education and occupation 
(HRSTC). In the EU-27, women accounted for more than 50 % 
in all HRST categories.

In  the  EU-27,  the  HRST  population  increased  at  an  average 
rate  of  2.8  %  a  year  between  2004  and  2009.  This  was  even 
higher  than  the  increase  in  the  total  labour  force  over  the 
same period (1.1 %), and held true for all EU-27 Member States 
except Austria and Bulgaria. 

In 2009, HRSTE accounted for 28.8 % of the active population 
aged  25–64  years  in  the  EU 27.  Finland  had  the  largest 
proportion of HRSTE (41.3 %), followed by Norway (39.9 %), 
Ireland (39.9 %), Belgium (39.2 %) and Estonia (38.2 %).

In  2009,  the  distribution  of  HRSTC  by  age  group  was  fairly 
even,  with  around  one  third  of  all  HRSTC  aged  25–34,  one 
third  aged  35–44  and  the  last  third  aged  45–64.  However, 
some  countries,  such  as  Malta  and  Turkey,  recorded  a  large 
proportion of HRSTC aged 25–34 years, whereas Croatia and 
Germany had a large share of HRSTC aged 45–64 years.

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

59

4 Human resources in science and technology (HRST)

The composition of the HRSTO population varied considerably 
in the countries studied: ‘professionals’ accounted for 73.4 % of 
HRSTO in Ireland, with the EU average standing at 47.6 %. In 
contrast, ‘technicians and associate professionals’ represented 
67.0 % of HRSTO in the Czech Republic. 

Unemployment  rates  were  generally  significantly  higher 
among non-HRST than among HRST. Although the rates for 
both  categories  remained  comparable  in  the  EU-27  between 
2000  and  2009,  substantial  variations  were  noted  in  some 
countries. In Bulgaria, the unemployment rate dropped from 
5.0 % (2000) to 2.4 % (2009) for HRST, and from 20.6 % (2000) 
to 8.8 % (2009) for non-HRST. In contrast, the opposite trend 
was observed in Ireland, where unemployment rates increased 
significantly for both categories.

In 2009, Praha (CZ) was the leading region for the proportion 
of  HRSTO  in  the  labour  force,  with  50.6  %.  Praha  (CZ)  was 
also the only region where HRSTO accounted for more than 
half  of  the  labour  force.  As  a  rule,  capital  regions  were  well 
represented among the 30 leading regions in terms of HRSTO 
as a share of labour force. Some countries had several regions 
in the top 30, including Germany (with 9 regions), Switzerland 
(6),  the  Netherlands  (4)  and  Sweden  (2).  All  other  countries 
had one region only.

60

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

Human resources in science and technology (HRST)

4

Table 4.1: Students participating in tertiary education, total 
and selected field of study, proportion of population aged 
20–29 and proportion of all tertiary students, EU-27 and 
selected countries, 2008

All fields

S&E (¹)

Total 
number

As a % of 
population 
aged 20-29

As a % of 
population 
aged 20-29

As a % of 
all 
tertiary 
students

Science, 
mathema-
tics and 
computing

Engineering, 
manufactu-
ring and 
construction

As a % of all 
tertiary 
students

As a % of all 
tertiary 
students

EU-27 19 040 142

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

IS

NO

CH

HR

MK

TR

401 652

264 463

392 540

230 707

2 245 138

68 168

178 518

637 623

1 781 019

2 164 538

2 013 856

25 688

127 760

204 767

2 979

413 715

9 472

602 286

284 791

2 165 980

376 917

1 056 622

115 445

229 477

309 648

406 879

2 329 494

16 631

212 672

224 469

143 410

65 504

2 532 622

29.8

30.1

29.6

26.2

37.2

23.3

33.9

23.8

46.5

29.0

28.5

30.1

22.4

36.6

40.7

5.1

30.5

16.6

30.8

27.2

36.9

26.8

31.3

39.7

25.3

49.0

36.3

28.7

36.7

36.1

24.0

29.2

20.1

21.7

7.3

4.8

7.2

6.9

6.7

7.2

7.7

6.0

14.2

8.0

7.2

6.9

3.9

5.8

9.5

1.3

5.9

2.9

4.4

7.0

7.9

8.0

6.9

9.6

5.9

17.6

9.0

6.1

5.9

5.8

5.4

6.8

4.7

4.5

24.3

16.0

24.5

26.4

18.0

31.0

22.6

25.3

30.6

27.6

25.3

22.9

17.5

15.8

23.5

24.7

19.3

17.2

14.3

25.5

21.3

29.8

22.0

24.1

23.4

35.9

24.7

21.1

16.2

16.0

22.7

23.4

23.4

20.5

10.3

6.6

5.0

10.8

8.2

15.2

9.6

12.5

13.6

9.9

12.3

7.6

9.8

4.8

5.5

16.2

6.9

9.4

6.2

11.6

8.9

7.5

5.6

5.9

8.4

10.9

8.9

12.9

7.6

8.5

9.9

7.9

10.7

7.6

14.1

9.4

19.5

15.7

9.8

15.8

13.0

12.8

17.0

17.7

13.0

15.3

7.7

11.0

18.0

8.5

12.5

7.8

8.1

13.9

12.4

22.3

16.5

18.1

15.0

24.9

15.8

8.2

8.5

7.5

12.7

15.4

12.7

13.0

(¹) S&E =  science, mathematics, computing + engineering, manufacturing and construc-
tion.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: hrst_fl_tepart)

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

61

4 Human resources in science and technology (HRST)

Figure 4.2: Share of female students in tertiary education 
in all fields and in science and engineering (S&E), EU-27 and 
selected countries, 2008 (1)

LI

IT

RO

MK

IS

DK

BG

SE

MT

SK

HR

EE

NO

PL

PT

US

EL

ES

EU -27(²)

UK

FR

CY

AT

IE

CZ

TR

SI

DE

LT

FI

BE

LV

LU

HU

CH

NL

JP

39.9

33.0

36.6

35.5

35.4

35.4

34.4

34.3

34.0

33.9

32.5

31.7

31.5

31.4

31.2

31.0

31.0

30.9

30.3

30.1

30.1

30.0

29.5

29.2

28.9

28.4

27.3

27.2

26.5

25.5

25.2

24.9

24.4

24.2

22.8

21.7

16.5

13.6

57.4

56.3

53.2

64.4

58.0

55.3

60.3

57.9

60.3

54.6

61.7

60.8

57.6

53.5

57.2

50.4

54.0

55.3

57.2

55.2

49.0

53.3

54.2

55.5

43.1

49.7

58.1

59.9

54.2

55.0

64.4

47.7

58.0

49.3

51.7

45.7

0

20

40

60

80

%

S&E fields (³)

Total

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2007 (EL).
(2) Eurostat estimate.
(³) S&E = science, mathematics, computing + engineering, manufacturing and construc-
tion.
Source: Eurostat (online data code: educ_enrl5)

62

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

Human resources in science and technology (HRST)

4

Figure 4.3: Annual average growth rates (AAGR) of tertiary 
students in all fields and in science and engineering (S&E), 
EU-27 and selected countries, 2003-2008 (1)

CY

LU

MT

RO

TR

SK

AT

SI

MK

US

CZ

EU - 27 (²)

IS

PL

HR

FR

LT

EE

CH

LI

DK

DE

BG

NL

UK

IT

LV

FI

IE

HU

PT

EL

JP

BE

NO

SE

ES

-5

0

5

10

15

20

%

S&E fields (³)

Total

(1) Exceptions to the reference period: 2004-2007 (EL), 2006-2008 (FR, LU), 2005-2008 (US).
(2) Eurostat estimate. 
(³) S&E = science, mathematics, computing + engineering, manufacturing and construc-
tion.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: educ_enrl5)

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

63

4 Human resources in science and technology (HRST)

Table 4.4: Stocks of HRST and HRSTC, 25–64 years old, total 
and percentage of women, EU-27 and selected countries, 
2009 (1)

HRST

HRSTC

Total in 1 000's

% of women

Total in 1 000's

% of women

EU - 27 (²)

91 653 s

51.2 s

38 090 s

52.4 s

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

IS

NO

CH

HR

MK

TR

2 336

1 128

1 946

1 344

17 450

300

936

1 608

8 944

11 934

8 627

167

424

649

99

1 490

50

3 994

1 507

5 841

1 201

2 232

395

845

1 309

2 197

12 698

76

1 186

2 143

538

204

4 837

50.3

59.6

51.8

51.9

47.9

65.0

53.1

49.6

49.3

51.5

50.4

49.7

64.4

61.6

46.5

59.1

46.0

48.8

45.3

59.6

53.7

54.0

55.7

57.4

56.1

52.1

49.9

56.6

51.9

44.1

52.8

50.5

37.3

992

541

626

655

7 075

114

367

799

3 819

4 932

2 952

75

176

292

55

623

20

1 813

499

2 691

572

1 078

175

307

598

1 100

5 144

35

663

920

256

81

1 758

52.9

65.1

47.0

57.9

45.1

74.6

54.5

51.2

51.8

53.3

52.8

49.3

70.5

71.2

43.6

58.3

50.0

48.2

48.7

61.1

60.8

53.5

60.6

55.0

59.0

58.3

51.6

57.1

55.2

39.3

57.8

50.6

40.3

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2008 (LU). 
(2) Eurostat estimate.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: hrst_st_ncat)

64

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
Human resources in science and technology (HRST)

4

Table 4.5: Stocks of HRSTE and HRSTO, 25–64 years 
old, total and percentage of women, EU-27 and selected 
countries, 2009 (1)

HRSTE

HRSTO

Total in 1 000's

% of women

Total in 1 000's

% of women

EU - 27 (²)

68 016 s

51.6 s

61 727 s

51.5 s

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

IS

NO

CH

HR

MK

TR

1 943

967

948

978

11 670

256

848

1 391

8 069

9 131

4 836

148

318

552

73

1 104

31

2 891

875

4 469

873

1 584

272

489

1 092

1 594

10 615

53

938

1 522

392

165

4 062

52.7

61.0

47.6

54.5

43.2

65.6

54.0

50.1

50.2

54.4

55.4

50.7

65.4

60.7

46.6

57.2

51.6

47.3

44.5

59.0

59.9

50.8

58.5

53.2

57.7

56.8

51.4

54.7

54.2

38.9

55.6

49.7

40.3

1 385

702

1 625

1 021

12 855

157

455

1 016

4 695

7 735

6 743

93

282

389

81

1 009

40

2 916

1 130

4 063

900

1 726

298

663

815

1 704

7 227

57

911

1 541

402

120

2 533

48.8

61.8

52.4

53.3

50.6

71.3

52.5

50.1

49.7

49.3

47.9

47.3

66.7

70.2

45.7

60.7

42.5

50.0

47.4

61.3

52.2

56.6

56.0

59.4

56.2

51.6

49.0

57.9

51.9

46.5

53.2

51.7

34.5

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2008 (LU). 
(2) Eurostat estimate.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: hrst_st_ncat)

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

65

 
 
 
4 Human resources in science and technology (HRST)

Figure 4.6: Annual average growth rate (AAGR) of HRST and 
of total labour force,  EU-27 and selected countries,  
2004–2009 (1)

TR

IE

IS

MT

PL

LV

CY

ES

CZ

SK

CH

LT

SI

PT

UK

RO

LU

MK

FR

EL

NO

BE

EU -27

IT

EE

HU

FI

HR

SE

DE

DK

NL

BG

AT

- 2

0

2

4

6

8

%

HRST

Total labour force

(1) Exceptions to the reference period: in HRST: 2004-2008 (LU);

Source: Eurostat (online data code: hrst_st_ncat and lfsa_agan) 

                    in HRST and labour force: 2006-2009 (MK and TR). 

66

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
Human resources in science and technology (HRST)

4

Figure 4.7: HRSTE aged 25–64 as a percentage of active 
population, EU-27 and selected countries, 2009 (1)

FI

NO

IE

BE

EE

CH

CY

DK

UK

NL

SE

LT

ES

IS

LU

FR

DE

EU-27(²)

LV

SI

BG

EL

PL

HU

HR

AT

MT

MK

IT

SK

CZ

TR

PT

RO

41.3

39.9

39.9

39.2

38.2

37.8

37.7

36.7

36.3

35.7

35.2

35.0

34.7

34.3

32.2

32.0

28.9

28.8

28.4

27.1

27.1

27.0

25.9

23.3

22.0

21.5

18.7

18.5

17.7

17.4

17.1

16.7

16.7

16.5

20

0

10

30

40

50

%

(1) Exception to the reference year: 2008 (LU). 
(2) Eurostat estimate. 

Source: Eurostat (online data code: hrst_st_ncat) 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

67

 
 
 
 
 
4 Human resources in science and technology (HRST)

Figure 4.8: Distribution of HRST by category, EU-27 and 
selected countries, 2009 (1)

NO

LU

SE

EL

DK

RO

BG

PT

HR

PL

IS

FI

NL

LT

CY

SI

CH

ES

BE

HU

EU-27(²)

LV

FR

DE

UK

MT

MK

IE

EE

TR

SK

IT

AT

CZ

55.9

55.6

23.2

18.2

20.9

26.3

27.5

22.5

24.0

22.7

36.8

13.5

27.2

29.0

37.8

14.3

25.1

25.3

30.4

24.0

27.3

27.1

23.5

29.3

37.7

16.6

27.0

27.6

40.1

44.0

14.9

10.8

24.6

28.1

31.1

29.0

47.5

40.7

9.8

16.8

32.3

32.7

33.5

35.2

25.9

25.8

25.0

23.5

26.3

33.1

43.1

16.4

21.6

39.2

41.2

51.4

47.5

47.6

19.1

9.4

14.4

16.0

21.5

21.8

25.0

42.1

43.9

41.9

16.5

51.3

50.0

49.7

48.7

48.3

48.0

47.6

47.6

46.1

46.7

45.7

45.4

45.0

45.2

44.3

42.9

42.7

42.5

41.8

41.6

41.5

41.3

40.5

40.5

39.2

39.7

39.2

38.1

36.3

36.3

34.2

33.1

32.2

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

HRSTC
HRSTO excluding HRSTC

HRSTE excluding HRSTC

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2008 (LU). 
(2) Eurostat estimate.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: hrst_st_ncat) 

68

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

Human resources in science and technology (HRST)

4

Figure 4.9: HRSTC by age group, EU-27 and selected 
countries, 2009 (1)

EU-27 (²)

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

IS

NO

CH

HR

MK

TR

32.2

33.7

25.3

30.5

30.4

30.0

25.1

33.1

35.5

31.0

21.9

27.2

39.5

31.3

36.0

35.2

31.0

28.1

29.7

33.9

32.6

31.4

27.4

34.6

41.3

33.0

37.7

36.4

37.4

28.0

27.8

27.1

32.7

26.3

37.4

36.3

44.0

39.5

35.9

47.2

44.7

31.1

34.8

31.4

33.4

38.0

30.7

38.6

35.3

30.9

36.3

55.0

25.0

25.0

30.0

28.1

47.3

41.6

44.0

34.9

40.1

28.3

29.5

32.4

28.6

30.0

28.3

29.1

32.9

26.6

29.9

27.9

31.4

24.1

40.9

38.9

26.2

28.5

28.1

34.3

35.5

27.9

29.3

29.2

31.4

31.7

31.4

43.8

41.3

38.4

40.0

38.3

40.3

50.4

43.2

24.6

25.0

33.3

22.2

51.1

30.3

18.7

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

(cid:21)(cid:24)(cid:16)(cid:22)(cid:23)

(cid:22)(cid:24)(cid:16)(cid:23)(cid:23)

(cid:23)(cid:24)(cid:16)(cid:25)(cid:23)

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2008 (LU). 
(2) Eurostat estimate.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: hrst_st_ncat) 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

69

4 Human resources in science and technology (HRST)

Figure 4.10: HRSTO aged 25–64 by occupation, EU-27 and 
selected countries, 2009 (¹)

IE

BE

EL

LU

LT

PL

BG

IS

UK

NL

TR

EE

ES

FI

RO

LV

HU

CY

MK

SI

PT

SE

CH

EU-27(²)

MT

DK

FR

HR

DE

AT

SK

NO

IT

CZ

73.4

65.3

63.5

26.6

34.7

36.5

60.5

60.2

59.3

57.1

56.1

54.8

54.7

54.2

54.1

53.9

53.6

53.6

53.5

52.5

51.6

50.8

50.7

50.0

50.0

48.4

47.6

47.5

43.0

42.9

42.8

42.5

36.8

36.2

36.1

33.6

33.0

39.5

40.1

40.7

42.9

43.9

45.2

45.3

45.8

46.5

46.1

46.4

46.4

46.5

47.5

48.4

49.2

49.3

50.0

50.1

51.6

52.4

52.5

57.0

57.1

57.2

57.6

63.2

63.8

63.8

66.4

67.0

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Professionals

Technicians and associate professionals

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2008 (LU). 
(2) Eurostat estimate.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: hrst_st_nocc) 

70

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
Human resources in science and technology (HRST)

4

Table 4.11: Percentage of unemployment among HRST and 
non-HRST, EU-27 and selected countries, 2000 and 2009 (¹)

2000

2009

HRST

Non-HRST

HRST

Non-HRST

EU - 27 (²)

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

IS

NO

CH

HR

MK

TR

3.2  

2.6  

5.0  

1.2  

1.7  

2.6  

12.1  

10.0  

20.6  

12.0  

6.0  

11.3  

3.8 bu

18.7 bu

1.4  

6.6  

9.3  

4.0  

2.6  

2.4  

4.7  

8.9  

: u

0.8  

: u

1.0 b

1.2  

2.9 b

1.7 u

2.0  

1.3 u

2.1  

3.8 b

2.1  

1.9  

: u

1.9  

0.7  

6.5  

15.8 b

5.9 b

5.7  

12.7  

15.9  

13.4  

13.8  

6.3  

18.3  

21.7  

: u

8.8  

: u

3.8 b

6.1  

20.4 b

4.3 u

8.1  

9.2 u

25.0  

16.7 b

7.9  

7.5  

: u

4.3  

4.2  

17.9

41.3 b

8.9 b

3.6

3.6

2.4

1.1

2.7

2.2

5.1

6.1

6.3

8.4

4.2

2.8

4.0

5.9

4.9

1.7 u

2.7

: u

1.6

1.2

3.2

4.6

3.0

12.3

11.7

8.8

10.0

8.7

11.8

20.4

15.9

10.9

23.7

13.3

10.3

6.3

23.8

19.8

7.6 u

13.5

: u

5.7

6.9

10.7

11.0

8.0

2.1 u

8.2 u

2.3

3.2

3.1

3.5

2.6

1.3

1.8

16.4

12.6

12.4

10.5

10.9

4.4

6.5

3.6 u

11.3 u

16.8

8.7

36.5

13.5

(1) Exceptions to the reference year 2000: 2002 (HR), 2006 (MK, TR); 
     Exceptions to the reference year 2009: 2008 (LU). 
 (2) EU-27 in 2009 does not include LU.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: hrst_st_nunesex) 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

71

 
 
 
 
 
4 Human resources in science and technology (HRST)

Figure 4.12: Top 30 regions in the EU and selected countries 
ranked according to the percentage of HRSTO in the labour 
force (NUTS level 2), 2009

Praha (CZ)

Stockholm (SE)

Oslo og Akershus (NO)

Bratislavsky kraj (SK)

Hovedstaden (DK)

Zürich(CH)

Nordwestschweiz (CH)

Noord-Holland (NL)

Utrecht (NL)

Prov. Brabant Wallon (BE)

Hamburg (DE)

Région lémanique (CH)

Inner London (UK)

Zentralschweiz (CH)

Berlin (DE)

Oberbayern (DE)

Darmstadt (DE)

Ticino (CH)

Köln (DE)

Rheinhessen-Pfalz (DE)

Stuttgart (DE)

Île de France (FR)

Zuid-Holland (NL)

Sydsverige (SE)

Wien (AT)

Bremen (DE)

Etelä-Suomi (FI)

Espace Mittelland (CH)

Karlsruhe (DE)

Flevoland (NL)

50.6

47.4

46.2

45.2

45.1

43.9

42.6

41.4

40.9

40.6

40.5

39.8

39.6

38.8

38.8

38.2

38.1

38

38

37.9

37.7

37.4

37

36.8

36.5

36.5

36.5

36.3

36.2

36.2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

%

Source: Eurostat (online data code: hrst_st_rcat) 

72

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

III

Productivity and 
competitiveness

Innovation
Innovation

Innovation

5

Community Innovation Surveys

The  Community  Innovation  Survey  (CIS)  is  designed  to 
monitor  innovation  activity  in  Europe.  It  makes  it  easier  to 
understand  the  innovation  process  and  analyses  the  effects 
of  innovation  on  the  economy  (including  competitiveness, 
employment, economic growth and trade patterns). 

The first pilot survey was run in 1993 and was repeated every 
four years. Community legislation has increased the frequency 
from  four  to  two  years,  starting  from  2004.  However,  only 
part of the survey is compulsory (1): a full survey is conducted 
every four years and a reduced one every two years in between 
the main ones. Six CIS have been launched so far. The latest 
one had 2008 as reference year and its results are available on 
Eurostat’s reference database (EUROBASE). 

In  the  interests  of  comparability  across  countries,  Eurostat, 
in  close  cooperation  with  the  EU  Member  States,  developed 
a  standard  core  questionnaire  starting  with  the  2000/01 
collection  round,  with  an  accompanying  set  of  definitions 
and  methodological  recommendations.  Further  work  on 
harmonising  methodologies  and  questionnaires  has  enabled 
spatial and time comparisons of data to be made, starting with 
the 2004 survey round. At each survey round improvements 
were made and new concepts were developed and added. 

CIS  2008  collected  information  about  product  and  process 
innovations, organisational and marketing innovation and 
other  key  variables  over  the  three-year  period  2006  to  2008 
inclusive. Most of the questions covered new or significantly 
improved goods or services or the use of new or significantly 
improved  processes,  logistics  or  distribution  methods.  It 
produced  a  broad  set  of  indicators  on  innovation  activities, 
innovation expenditure, public funding, sources of information 
for innovation, innovation cooperation, innovation objectives, 
organisational  and  marketing  innovations  and  innovations 
with environmental benefits.

CIS  2008  was  carried  out  in  all  27  Member  States,  plus 
Croatia,  Turkey  (NACE  Rev.  1.1),  Iceland  and  Norway.  As 
for  previous  editions,  Eurostat  devised  the  harmonised 
survey  questionnaire  and  the  survey  methodology  in  close 
cooperation  with  the  participating  countries.  The  result  is  a 
satisfactory  level  of  harmonisation  regarding  data  input  and 
data production. 

(1) See Commission Regulation (EC) No 1450/2004 and derogations.

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

79

5 Innovation 

In  contrast  to  previous  CIS  surveys  based  on  NACE  Rev.1.1, 
CIS  2008  used  the  NACE  Rev.2  classification  of  economic 
activities,  in  accordance  with  Annex  IV  of  Commission 
Regulation  No  973/2007.  The  latest  edition  of  CIS  also 
introduced  a  new  exhaustive  definition  of  innovation  that 
includes  organisational  and  marketing  innovation,  in  line 
with  the  third  edition  of  the  Oslo  Manual.  In  the  CIS  2008 
tabulation,  a  distinction  was  made  between  enterprises  with 
technological  (PP)  and  non-technological  (NPP)  innovation; 
this  was  for  the  purposes  of  comparability  with  previous 
data  collections,  since  fewer  questions  in  the  harmonised 
questionnaire  are  related  to  organisational  and  marketing 
innovation than to product and process innovation.

Two major changes were made in the CIS 2008 questionnaire 
compared to the 2006 version:

First,  the  CIS  2006  questions  on  hampering  factors  and 
intellectual  property  rights  were  not  included  in  the  CIS 
2008  questionnaire.  This  resulted  from  the  decision  to  only 
include certain questions (for which responses change slowly 
over time) every four years instead of every two. The purpose 
was to keep the questionnaire short and allow the addition of  
one-off modules on topics of policy relevance. Second, the CIS 
2008 questionnaire included an optional one-page module on 
eco-innovation.

The changes in the CIS 2008 questionnaire were based on the 
need  to  comply  with  the  third  revision  of  the  Oslo  Manual. 
This was achieved by giving greater weight to organisational 
and  marketing 
innovation.  However,  the  question  on 
innovation  expenditure  was  still  limited  to  product  and 
process  innovation  in  order  to  maintain  continuity  with 
earlier versions of the CIS. 

Some results of CIS 2008

In  the  EU-27  (excluding  Greece),  51.6  %  of  enterprises  in 
industry  and  services  reported  innovation  activity  between 
2006  and  2008.  Of  the  EU-27  Member  States,  the  highest 
figures  were  recorded  in  Germany  (79.9  %),  Luxembourg 
(64.7  %),  Belgium  (58.1  %),  Portugal  (57.8  %)  and  Ireland 
(56.5  %).  The  lowest  rates  were  observed  in  Latvia  (24.3  %), 
Poland  (27.9  %),  Hungary  (28.9  %),  Lithuania  (30.3  %)  and 
Bulgaria (30.8 %).

80

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

Innovation

5

In 2008, 39.8 % of enterprises in the EU-27 (excluding Greece 
and the United Kingdom) were considered innovative in terms 
of technological innovation, one percentage point more than 
in 2006. 

In  most  countries,  the  proportion  of  innovative  enterprises 
was generally higher in manufacturing than in services. The 
opposite was true in Luxembourg, Hungary and Portugal.

Over  2006–2008,  one  third  of  innovative  enterprises  in  the 
EU-27  cooperated  with  other  enterprises,  universities  or 
public  research  institutes,  while  the  remaining  two  thirds 
relied  only  on  internal  resources.  The  highest  proportions 
of  innovation  cooperation  were  found  in  Denmark  (56.8  %), 
Cyprus  (51.4  %),  Belgium  (48.8  %)  and  Estonia  (48.6  %), 
and  the  lowest  in  Romania  (13.8  %),  Italy  (16.2  %),  Bulgaria 
and Latvia (both 16.6 %). In the EU-27, 11.2 % of innovative 
enterprises teamed up with a partner in the EU-27, EFTA or 
the candidate countries, 3.2 % joined forces with a partner in 
the United States and 1.8 % cooperated with a partner in India 
or  China.  Innovation  cooperation  with  a  European  partner 
was  highest  in  Slovenia  (35.0  %),  Estonia  (33.3  %),  Belgium 
(29.5 %), Luxembourg (27.9 %), Slovakia (25.8 %) and Finland 
(26.4 %), and lowest in Spain and Italy (both 4.4 %), Bulgaria 
and  Ireland  (both  5.6  %)  and  Germany  (7.2  %).  Finland 
(11.1  %),  Sweden  (11.2  %),  Belgium  (9.4  %)  and  Luxembourg 
(8.7  %)  recorded  the  highest  shares  of  cooperation  with  US 
partners. Sweden (7.3 %), Finland (6.7 %) and Belgium (5.8 %) 
also reported the highest shares of cooperation with partners 
in India or China.

With  the  exception  of  Cyprus,  innovative  enterprises  in  the 
EU-27  were  more  often  engaged  in  in-house  R&D  than  in 
external R&D.

When  questioned  about  the  objectives  of  innovation,  more 
than half of innovative enterprises in the EU-27 mentioned the 
improvement of the quality of goods and services and increase 
of  a  range  of  goods  and  services.  Around  39.6  %  of  them 
pointed to gaining market shares and entry into new markets. 

When queried about environmental innovation, the existence 
of environmental regulations or taxes was the leading reason 
for  innovation  in  eleven  countries.  In  eight  countries,  the 
foremost  reason  was  the  need  to  comply  with  voluntary 
codes or agreements on environmental good practice within 
the  sector.  In  the  Netherlands  and  Finland,  current  or 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

81

5 Innovation 

expected market demand from customers for environmental 
innovations was the main motivation.

In this publication, the majority of tables and figures present 
the  data  as  a  percentage  of  firms  with  innovation  activities 
(including  product,  process,  ongoing  or  abandoned, 
organisational  and  marketing  innovations).  However,  in 
some tables and figures (fig 5.5, tab 5.6, fig 5.7, tab 5.8 and tab 
5.10),  the  indicators  are  based  on  the  number  of  enterprises 
with  technological  innovation  (product,  process,  ongoing  or 
abandoned),  i.e.  disregarding  organisational  or  marketing 
innovations.

82

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

Innovation

5

Figure 5.1: Enterprises with innovation activity (product, 
process, ongoing or abandoned, organisational and 
marketing innovation) as a percentage of all enterprises,  
EU-27 and selected countries, 2008 

DE

LU

BE

PT

IE

EE

AT

CY

CZ

SE

IT

FI

DK

EU-27(¹)

SI

FR

NO

UK

NL

HR

ES

MT

SK

RO

BG

LT

HU

PL

LV

0

20

40

60

80

100

%

(¹) EU-27 excluding EL.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: inn_cis6_type)

Innovative enterprises mean enterprises with innovation activity (product, process, 
ongoing or abandoned, organisational and marketing innovation). 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

83

 
 
5 Innovation 

Figure 5.2: Enterprises with technological innovation 
(product, process, ongoing or abandoned), regardless 
organizational or marketing innovation in CIS 2006 and CIS 
2008, EU-27 and selected countries

EU- 27 (¹)

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

NO

HR

TR

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

%

2006

2008

(¹) CIS 2008: EU-27 excluding EL and UK. 
     CIS 2006: EU-27 excluding FR. 

Source: Eurostat (online data code: inn_cis5_prod and inn_cis6_type)

Innovative enterprises mean enterprises with technological innovation (product, pro-
cess, ongoing or abandoned), regardless organizational or marketing innovation. 

84

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Innovation

5

Figure 5.3: Innovative enterprises as a percentage of 
all enterprises, by main NACE group, EU-27 and selected 
countries, 2008 (based on new definition of innovation)

EU - 27 (¹)

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

NO

HR

0

20

40

60

80

100

%

Manufacturing

Core Services (²)

(¹) EU-27 excluding EL. 
(²) Innovation core services activities include NACE Rev.2 codes: G46, H, J58, J61, J62, J63, 
K and M71.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: inn_cis6_type)

Innovative enterprises mean enterprises with innovation activity (product, process, 
ongoing or abandoned, organisational and marketing innovation). 
EL: data not available. 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

85

 
 
 
 
 
5 Innovation 

Figure 5.4: Innovative enterprises by type of innovator, as 
percentage of all enterprises, EU-27 and selected countries, 
2008

DE

LU

BE

PT

IE

EE

AT

CY

CZ

SE

IT

EU - 27 (¹)

FI

DK

SI

FR

NO

UK (²)

NL

HR

ES

MT

SK

RO

BG

LT

HU

PL

LV

0

20

40

60

80

100

%

Technological innovation

Non - technological innovation

Technological and non - technological innovation

(¹) EU-27 excluding EL and UK. 
(²) UK: the breakdown by type of innovator is missing. 
Source: Eurostat (online data code: inn_cis6_type)

Innovative enterprises mean enterprises with innovation activity (product, process, 
ongoing or abandoned, organisational and marketing innovation). 
EL: data not available. 

86

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Innovation

5

Figure 5.5: Enterprise with any type of co-operation as a 
percentage of innovative enterprises, EU-27 and selected 
countries, 2008

DK

CY

BE

EE

SI

FR

HU

NL

SE

PL

AT

LT

HR

FI

NO

CZ

SK

LU

PT

EU - 27 (¹)

IE

DE

MT

ES

BG

LV

IT

RO

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

%

(¹) EU-27 excluding EL and UK. 
Source: Eurostat (online data code: inn_cis6_coop)

Innovative enterprises mean enterprises with technological innovation (product, pro-
cess, ongoing or abandoned), regardless organizational or marketing innovation. 
EL and UK: data not available. 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

87

 
 
 
5 Innovation 

Table 5.6: Co-operation arrangements on innovation 
activities by location, as a percentage of innovative 
enterprises, 2008

Enterprises engaged in any type of innovation co-operation

national

within other 
Europe

within the 
US

within other 
partner 
countries

with China 
or India

EU-27 (¹)

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

NO

HR

24.2

41.8

14.4

29.1

:

19.9

34.0

19.3

:

17.7

39.1

14.8

46.7

9.3

35.3

24.7

38.9

11.7

36.3

33.6

35.8

27.0

12.9

45.0

27.0

36.4

37.7

:

31.7

35.6

11.2

29.5

5.6

19.8

:

7.2

33.3

5.6

:

4.4

15.9

4.4

24.9

12.0

19.9

27.9

16.7

15.7

21.1

23.9

18.8

11.8

7.6

35.0

25.8

26.4

24.8

:

16.1

13.5

3.2

9.4

1.1

2.8

:

2.4

2.7

2.5

:

1.0

5.2

1.3

3.6

1.2

4.5

8.7

3.1

3.1

7.4

3.1

4.2

1.8

1.4

6.6

4.0

11.1

11.2

:

4.3

2.3

2.6

7.9

1.7

2.8

:

1.5

3.2

15.9

:

0.9

4.0

0.7

6.6

3.6

5.8

6.3

2.5

3.6

5.1

2.6

3.8

2.4

0.6

8.9

4.8

7.6

8.6

:

2.9

0.7

1.8

5.8

0.5

2.0

:

1.3

1.4

2.8

:

0.4

2.4

0.8

3.2

0.1

2.6

3.7

2.7

2.0

3.1

1.8

2.0

1.1

0.8

4.1

3.5

6.7

7.3

:

2.2

1.1

(¹) EU-27 excluding DK, EL and UK. 
Source: Eurostat (online data code: inn_cis6_coop)

Innovative enterprises mean enterprises with technological innovation (product, pro-
cess, ongoing or abandoned), regardless organizational or marketing innovation.

88

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
Innovation

5

Figure 5.7: Number of innovative enterprises doing 
intramural and extramural R&D as a percentage of innovative 
enterprises by country, 2008

FI

SI

FR

SE

NL

BE

NO

CZ

DE

AT

HU

HR

SK

LT

PT

IT

EE

IE

ES

LU

MT

PL

LV

RO

CY

BG

0

20

40

60

80

%

Enterprises engaged in intramural R&D

Enterprises engaged in extramural R&D

Source: Eurostat (online data code: inn_cis6_exp)

Innovative enterprises mean enterprises with technological innovation (product, 
process, ongoing or abandoned), regardless organizational or marketing innovation. 
DK, EL and UK: data not available.

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

89

5 Innovation 

Table 5.8: Innovation objectives during 2006–2008 (as high 
important) as a percentage of innovative enterprises

s
d
o
o
g
f
o
e
g
n
a
r
e
s
a
e
r
c
n

I

s
e
c
i
v
r
e
s
r
o

s
e
s
s
e
c
o
r
p
r
o
s
t
c
u
d
o
r
p

d
e
t
a
d
t
u
o
e
c
a
l
p
e
R

r
o
f
y
t
i
l
i

b
i
x
e
fl
e
v
o
r
p
m

I

r
o
s
d
o
o
g
g
n
i
c
u
d
o
r
p

s
e
c
i
v
r
e
s

f
o
y
t
i
l
a
u
q
e
v
o
r
p
m

I

s
e
c
i
v
r
e
s
r
o
s
d
o
o
g

r
o
f
y
t
i
c
a
p
a
c
e
s
a
e
r
c
n

I

r
o
s
d
o
o
g
g
n
i
c
u
d
o
r
p

s
e
c
i
v
r
e
s

d
n
a
h
t
l
a
e
h
e
v
o
r
p
m

I

y
t
e
f
a
s

e
r
a
h
s
t
e
k
r
a
m
e
s
a
e
r
c
n

I

42.4

39.8

29.6

32.2

33.4

42.5

32.3

48.4

:

28.7

47.9

28.2

62.0

8.9

32.8

59.5

61.3

34.0

34.2

49.4

42.3

44.5

34.1

61.2

34.7

37.9

45.2

s
t
e
k
r
a
m
w
e
n
r
e
t
n
E

39.6

27.1

29.7

24.0

23.8

46.1

24.1

40.5

:

25.7

40.9

27.0

45.1

11.3

26.5

47.5

56.1

31.0

28.1

42.8

36.1

39.8

35.5

45.3

22.5

29.6

28.3

56.6

48.7

35.8

47.0

30.3

54.7

50.8

48.8

:

42.3

49.7

50.0

77.3

12.6

42.8

69.5

65.7

45.7

36.3

62.5

54.3

58.3

55.5

73.6

50.1

43.0

45.2

33.9

28.1

16.7

27.3

18.8

36.5

31.1

30.9

:

31.4

25.0

24.9

64.4

7.4

26.6

44.4

49.6

29.4

21.7

37.1

26.7

38.6

30.6

42.9

32.0

30.2

28.3

r
e
p
s
t
s
o
c
r
u
o
b
a
l
e
c
u
d
e
R

t
u
p
t
u
o
t
i
n
u

28.1

21.1

18.2

28.8

30.0

26.5

21.3

38.9

:

22.1

22.7

18.3

37.0

24.9

16.1

23.4

18.5

11.1

21.0

18.7

23.7

:

20.4

20.8

28.0

40.5

8.0

6.9

17.6

29.5

34.8

19.3

11.3

18.0

27.8

35.2

27.5

34.3

21.9

13.1

16.1

49.2

20.2

28.3

20.5

27.8

27.4

14.7

21.3

25.5

41.0

24.4

54.6

15.6

30.2

34.1

:

:

37.6

28.3

31.7

25.7

18.4

24.0

18.5

28.5

33.9

28.7

:

35.9

25.7

27.1

61.4

10.3

27.7

34.6

37.2

27.4

17.5

28.3

36.9

39.7

32.2

41.9

26.5

23.7

25.5

:

34.5

32.7

34.5

32.4

24.9

34.9

27.7

34.6

35.8

31.8

:

26.3

35.1

26.9

66.4

9.3

26.4

36.9

46.5

22.3

18.6

41.4

37.8

34.5

34.4

48.8

27.8

29.3

32.0

EU-27 (¹)

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

NO

HR

52.2

48.4

30.7

46.7

25.0

54.3

36.5

46.3

:

33.7

56.3

43.7

63.4

12.2

30.3

68.8

62.1

41.6

32.4

55.1

50.5

42.0

50.0

79.0

45.5

41.2

43.9

49.3

47.3

:

:

:

:

:

:

39.1

42.2

36.6

30.5

60.8

31.1

71.6

56.8

37.7

38.6

(¹) EU-27 excluding EL and UK.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: inn_cis6_obj)

Innovative enterprises mean enterprises with technological innovation (product, pro-
cess, ongoing or abandoned), regardless organizational or marketing innovation. 

90

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Innovation

5

Table 5.9: Enterprises with organisational or marketing 
innovation as a percentage of all enterprises, EU-27 and 
selected countries, 2008

Enterprise 
introduced 
organisational 
and/or marketing 
innovations

Enterprise 
introduced 
organisational 
innovation

Enterprise 
introduced 
marketing 
innovation

EU-27 (¹)

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

NO

HR

40.1

45.0

18.4

47.0

41.5

69.0

35.2

42.6

:

30.9

39.8

41.2

48.0

14.9

22.6

54.6

21.9

26.9

29.9

44.3

20.1

44.5

26.8

41.2

29.7

33.0

38.0

31.5

31.4

33.9

31.0

35.3

15.2

34.0

33.3

50.3

25.5

32.3

:

27.0

33.8

31.1

39.0

10.0

17.5

45.0

14.6

18.9

21.3

34.9

14.1

36.3

19.8

29.8

20.1

24.7

28.7

27.5

20.1

24.6

26.6

29.5

10.5

35.6

28.8

55.7

23.2

27.0

:

15.5

20.9

27.1

33.0

11.0

17.8

35.1

15.4

18.1

18.3

27.3

13.9

30.8

11.0

29.9

20.1

21.7

24.0

17.8

21.7

25.5

(¹) EU-27 excluding EL.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: inn_cis6_mo)

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

91

5 Innovation 

Table 5.10: Innovative enterprises that received public 
financial support for innovation activities, as a percentage of 
innovative enterprises, EU-27 and selected countries, 2008

Enterprise 

that received 

any public 

funding

Public funding received from

Local or 
regional 

authorities

Central 

government (¹)

European 

Union

6th or 7th 

Framework 

Programme

EU-27

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

:

22.3

9.5

17.1

:

19.2

13.1

:

:

26.4

16.7

31.4

33.7

11.9

13.4

21.1

27.5

22.3

27.8

40.0

17.7

12.8

9.7

24.0

14.0

34.8

:

:

27.9

:

16.7

0.5

4.3

:

9.3

1.9

:

:

17.7

9.4

19.7

2.9

:

2.3

5.9

1.3

:

7.2

22.1

3.4

1.5

2.9

2.1

0.6

7.7

:

:

5.6

:

7.7

5.7

8.9

:

8.1

8.6

:

:

12.9

12.0

12.5

30.9

1.8

6.2

17.5

19.0

17.8

22.8

30.7

5.4

9.8

4.8

17.6

5.7

29.2

:

:

24.4

:

4.4

5.0

8.0

:

4.1

5.7

:

:

1.7

4.8

3.7

6.1

11.6

8.5

4.8

13.0

6.6

4.7

8.5

11.7

4.4

5.4

11.9

10.3

6.7

:

:

1.7

:

2.7

0.7

3.1

:

2.7

0.9

:

:

1.1

1.7

0.7

2.1

2.0

4.2

3.7

1.0

2.0

2.6

2.6

3.0

2.0

1.9

3.7

1.7

2.2

:

:

0.4

(¹) Including central government agencies or ministries.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: inn_cis6_pub)

Innovative enterprises mean enterprises with technological innovation (product, pro-
cess, ongoing or abandoned), regardless organizational or marketing innovation.

92

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

Innovation

5

Table 5.11:  Environmental benefits from the production of 
goods or services within the enterprise, as a percentage of 
innovative enterprises, 2008

Environmental benefits from the production of goods or services 

Reduced 
material 
use per 
unit of 

Reduced 
energy 
use per 
unit of 

output

output

within the enterprise

Reduced 
CO2 
'footprint' 
(total CO2 
production) 

by your 
enterprise

Replaced 
materials 
with less 
polluting 
or 

hazardous 
substitutes

Reduced 
soil, water, 
noise, or 
air 

Recycled 
waste, 
water, or 

pollution

materials

EU-27

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

:

22.8

11.6

28.6

:

38.8

27.4

28.2

:

:

27.6

13.0

10.8

19.9

29.3

20.8

31.8

23.0

17.1

26.9

23.5

37.8

31.3

:

20.2

32.0

24.0

:

28.8

:

30.3

13.6

33.1

:

46.4

11.7

33.5

:

:

28.2

16.5

13.6

23.5

29.3

24.8

36.3

27.0

21.1

30.7

25.3

41.5

32.8

:

23.7

32.9

28.6

:

32.7

:

26.6

6.0

17.1

:

38.5

13.4

33.1

:

:

21.0

13.4

8.6

11.5

20.7

27.1

17.3

13.7

15.9

25.1

16.1

31.5

22.7

:

9.2

25.9

23.7

:

18.1

:

25.7

10.0

20.1

:

25.5

22.3

30.9

:

:

26.5

15.3

8.2

19.7

25.6

26.6

29.4

19.8

22.3

27.4

24.9

41.3

21.1

:

19.5

24.0

24.2

:

30.4

:

28.8

10.5

27.0

:

41.7

10.0

27.1

:

:

24.7

23.8

13.5

27.9

21.3

22.6

27.6

12.5

19.3

30.9

28.2

46.2

31.5

:

21.9

22.8

23.0

:

39.2

:

35.7

8.6

41.3

:

41.2

10.6

54.3

:

:

38.8

25.8

13.2

14.3

18.2

41.4

26.1

27.8

21.5

23.6

23.7

58.5

32.3

:

29.3

32.2

21.8

:

36.1

Source: Eurostat (online data code: inn_cis6_eco)

Innovative enterprises mean enterprises with innovation activity (product, process, 
ongoing or abandoned, organisational and marketing innovation).

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

93

5 Innovation 

Table 5.12: Environmental benefits from the after sales 
use of a good or service by the end user, as a percentage of 
innovative enterprises, 2008

Environmental benefits from the after sales use of a 

good or service by the end user

Reduced energy 

Reduced air, 

water, soil or 

Improved 

recycling of 

use

noise pollution

product after use

EU-27

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

:

27.0

8.8

30.7

:

44.0

15.0

33.1

:

:

23.9

23.5

5.4

21.7

22.9

30.1

19.1

19.8

19.8

28.9

24.8

39.1

30.3

:

26.2

33.0

28.1

:

32.6

:

20.8

8.1

27.5

:

35.5

10.2

23.8

:

:

17.6

23.5

6.1

27.9

20.0

18.3

16.9

6.9

15.9

23.1

25.3

38.8

29.6

:

21.0

20.3

23.6

:

36.1

:

24.0

6.1

29.7

:

30.8

10.4

37.1

:

:

17.7

23.3

5.6

12.6

18.7

29.2

13.4

16.9

13.8

17.2

17.0

41.8

20.1

:

19.0

22.2

18.5

:

31.2

Source: Eurostat (online data code: inn_cis6_eco)

Innovative enterprises mean enterprises with innovation activity (product, process, 
ongoing or abandoned, organisational and marketing innovation).

94

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

Innovation

5

Table 5.13: Motivation to introduce an environmental 
innovation, as a percentage of innovative enterprises, 2008

Existing 

environmental 

regulations or 

taxes on 

pollution

Availability of 

Environmental 

government 

Current or 

expected 

Voluntary 

codes or 

regulations or 

grants, 

market 

agreements 

taxes that you 

subsidies or 

demand from 

for 

expected to 

other financial 

your 

environmental 

be introduced 

incentives for 

customers for 

good practice 

in the future

environmental 

environmental 

within your 

innovation

innovations

sector

EU-27

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR

:

20.1

8.6

40.6

:

20.8

24.1

27.2

:

:

24.0

22.9

7.2

19.1

39.3

10.1

41.3

23.8

10.5

:

24.1

31.6

37.6

:

37.0

15.8

8.4

:

35.7

:

16.3

5.4

26.8

:

19.0

19.3

19.9

:

:

15.0

16.3

5.3

11.3

31.8

11.4

34.5

23.8

9.2

:

16.1

18.3

20.4

:

27.3

17.8

12.3

:

28.0

:

7.8

2.4

9.5

:

7.7

4.4

9.1

:

:

6.4

12.8

3.1

8.3

12.5

4.4

4.1

8.1

6.7

:

4.9

7.0

9.3

:

4.7

6.2

2.7

:

8.4

:

13.6

4.0

13.6

:

18.3

17.2

25.3

:

:

17.6

13.0

3.9

13.6

26.8

15.0

31.9

11.3

13.8

:

12.7

21.9

17.6

:

11.7

30.3

14.7

:

19.6

:

26.1

5.2

24.3

:

18.8

26.3

28.5

:

:

23.9

14.8

13.1

34.0

24.5

43.2

32.8

13.3

12.7

:

13.3

42.0

17.7

:

18.9

29.1

15.1

:

30.3

Source: Eurostat (online data code: inn_cis6_ecomot)

Innovative enterprises mean enterprises with innovation activity (product, process, 
ongoing or abandoned, organisational and marketing innovation).

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

95

Patents

Patents

6

In  2007,  Germany  submitted  the  largest  number  of  patent 
applications  to  the  EPO  among  the  EU-27  Member  States 
(23  929),  followed  by  France  (8  421),  the  United  Kingdom 
(5  422)  and  Italy  (5  107).  In  terms  of  patent  applications  per 
million  inhabitants,  Sweden  was  in  the  lead  (298),  closely 
followed by Germany (291) and Finland (251).

At world level the highest numbers of patent applications were 
recorded in the US (31 908), Japan (20 657) and Korea (5 607). 

At  EU  level,  the  number  of  patent  applications  to  the  EPO 
increased  by  an  average  of  2.7  %  a  year  between  2002  and 
2007.  Over  the  same  period,  patenting  activity  rose  in  every 
EU Member State except in the United Kingdom.

In  2007,  the  majority  of  EU-27  patent  applications  to  the 
EPO  were  related  to  IPC  section  B  ‘Performing  operations; 
transporting’.  Most  countries  were  highly  specialised,  with 
20  %  or  more  of  all  their  applications  relating  to  just  one 
section of the IPC. Denmark, Spain, Cyprus, Malta, Portugal 
and  the  United  Kingdom  specialised  in  ‘Human  necessities’ 
(IPC section A). ‘Performing operations; transporting’(section 
B) was the most prominent section for patenting in the Czech 
Republic,  Germany,  Greece,  France,  Italy,  Luxembourg, 
Austria  and  Poland,  whereas  20  %  or  more  of  patent 
applications  from  Belgium,  Latvia  and  Lithuania  were  on 
‘Chemistry;  metallurgy’  (section  C).  By  contrast,  patenting 
was  generally  less  frequent  for  ‘Textiles;  paper’  (section  D), 
‘Fixed constructions’ (section E) and ‘Mechanical engineering 
(section F). In Bulgaria, Ireland, the Netherlands and Romania 
the biggest share of patent applications to the EPO concerned 
‘Physics’  (section  G).  Applications  related  to  ‘Electricity’ 
(section H) were predominant in Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, 
Finland and Sweden. The majority of patent applications were 
submitted  by  the  business  enterprise  sector,  accounting  for 
half or even three quarters of all applications in all countries 
except Greece and Lithuania.

High-tech applications to the EPO as a percentage of the total 
varied significantly. Shares of over 50 % were posted by South 
Korea (61.3 %), China (56.4 %), Estonia (52.7 %) and Finland 
(51.6 %).

Biotechnology  is  another  fertile  field  for  patent  applications, 
albeit one of the smaller fields overall. Estonia was in the lead 
on biotechnology patenting, with 18.6 % of all Estonia’s patent 
applications being in this field. At EU level, only 4.3 % of all 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

99

6 Patents

patent applications related to biotechnology inventions.

In 2009, Eurostat published for the first time new indicators on 
nanotechnology  and  energy  technology  patent  applications. 
Nanotechnology is a field of research that is still in its infancy 
and  is  small  in  terms  of  patenting.  Nevertheless,  in  2006, 
the  EU-27  accounted  for  37  %  of  all  nanotechnology  patent 
applications to the EPO, followed by the United States (32 %), 
and Japan (18 %). 

In 2006, the EU-27 made 4 347 patent applications on energy 
technologies  to  the  EPO.  Among  the  energy  technologies 
subcategories,  ‘traditional  engines’  represented  more  than  a 
half of those patents, ‘lightning’ accounted for 11 % and ‘heat 
exchange’ and ‘solar energy’ patents each represented 7 % of the 
total. Patents on ‘geothermal energy’, ‘stirling engines’, ‘biofuels’, 
‘waste heat recovery’ and ‘biomass’ accounted for no more than 
1  %.  Most  of  the  patent  applications  on  energy  technologies 
were submitted by Germany (48 %), France (14 %), the United 
Kingdom (9 %), Italy (8 %) and the Netherlands (5 %).

In  terms  of  foreign  ownership  of  domestic  inventions  the  
EU-27, considered as an entity, ranked fourth among countries 
with the lowest rate of foreign ownership, with 13 %, behind 
South  Korea  and  Japan  (3  %  each)  but  ahead  of  the  United 
States,  Taiwan  or  Switzerland.  In  the  EU  Member  States, 
more than 50 % foreign ownership was registered in Romania, 
Malta,  Slovakia,  Hungary,  Bulgaria  and  Estonia,  and  below 
20  %  in  Germany  and  Finland.  Eurostat  also  added  new 
datasets on international and European co-patenting and on 
patent citations.

The  vast  majority  of  all  EU  patent  applications  to  the  EPO 
were  co-patents,  involving  several  applicants  from  the  same 
country.  

Citations in EU patents refer to EU patent publications more 
often than to non-EU publications.

In  2006,  the  top  thirty  NUTS  2  regions  in  terms  of  patent 
applications per million inhabitants featured 16 in Germany, 
four  in  Sweden,  three  in  Austria,  two  each  in  Finland  and 
France,  and  one  each  in  the  Netherlands,  Belgium  and 
Luxembourg.

100

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

Patents

6

Table 6.1: Patent applications to the EPO, total number, per 
million inhabitants and AAGR, EU-27 and selected countries, 
2002–2007 (1)

Total

Per million inhabitants

2002

2007

AAGR
2002-2007

EU-27
BE
BG
CZ
DK
DE
EE
IE
EL
ES
FR
IT
CY
LV
LT
LU
HU
MT
NL
AT
PL
PT
RO
SI
SK
FI
SE
UK
IS
LI
NO
CH
HR

(²)

MK
TR
AU
CA
CN
IL
IN
JP
KR
RU
TW
US

2002
50 462
1 287
15
88
935
21 503
6
224
74
938
7 321
4 168
7
6
3
61
120
4
3 442
1 269
81
41
11
76
24
1 257
2 002
5 500
35
26
377
2 641
37
:
60
988
1 754
548
889
432
20 218
2 260
180
486
31 171

2007
57 725
1 472
29
162
1 057
23 929
23
288
109
1 451
8 421
5 107
9
19
8
110
173
8
3 656
1 797
146
121
21
103
42
1 323
2 719
5 422
28
31
515
3 224
32
1
220
917
2 377
2 118
1 303
545
20 657
5 607
281
1 004
31 908

104
125
2
9
174
261
4
57
7
23
119
73
9
3
1
137
12
10
214
157
2
4
1
38
5
242
225
93
123
785
83
364
8
:
1
50
56
0
140
0
159
47
1
22
108

117
139
4
16
194
291
17
67
10
33
132
86
11
8
2
230
17
20
223
217
4
11
1
51
8
251
298
89
91
895
110
429
7
0
3
43
72
2
188
0
162
116
2
44
106

2.7
2.7
14.7
13.1
2.5
2.2
32.6
5.2
8.0
9.1
2.8
4.1
6.3
25.2
25.2
12.6
7.5
15.8
1.2
7.2
12.4
24.1
13.2
6.3
11.7
1.0
6.3
-0.3
-4.6
3.7
6.4
4.1
-2.8
:
29.6
-1.5
6.3
31.1
7.9
4.8
0.4
19.9
9.3
15.6
0.5

(1) 2007 estimated. 
(2) MK: 2006. 

Source: Eurostat (online data code: pat_ep_ntot)

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

101

6 Patents

Table 6.2: Breakdown of patent applications to the EPO 
by IPC section as a percentage of total, EU-27 and selected 
countries, 2006

IPC section 

;
s
n
o
i
t
a
r
e
p
o
g
n
m
r
o
f
r
e
P

i

g
n
i
t
r
o
p
s
n
a
r
t

21.2

19.6

18.4

19.1

12.1

24.8

8.9

12.7

22.6

21.2

20.0

27.1

22.8

7.1

0.0

29.7

12.8

14.0

13.8

20.1

17.3

10.3

7.8

7.4

22.1

13.0

18.6

14.4

8.4

45.8

17.0

21.0

2.9

9.5

14.2

10.2

7.2

7.6

4.8

17.0

6.0

9.1

17.4

11.0

s
e

i
t
i
s
s
e
c
e
n
n
a
m
u
H

16.8

17.8

16.3

16.8

29.9

13.5

26.4

24.0

17.5

23.0

17.4

20.5

38.2

15.2

17.3

6.3

16.4

26.1

19.9

16.5

14.9

24.7

24.1

46.9

8.0

9.8

17.4

21.0

49.4

26.6

16.5

24.1

36.2

17.8

31.1

16.9

12.0

33.9

29.9

9.7

7.0

23.4

15.3

25.1

EU-27

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

IS

LI

NO

CH

HR

TR

AU

CA

CN

IL

IN

JP

KR

RU

TW

US

y
g
r
u

l
l
a
t
e
m

;

y
r
t
s
i

m
e
h
C

12.2

25.9

4.9

17.8

15.0

12.2

9.6

9.4

10.6

16.0

11.4

9.8

2.7

63.2

55.1

15.2

19.4

5.9

12.9

10.4

12.3

10.7

0.8

24.4

24.0

6.1

6.9

13.6

11.3

2.1

15.1

12.9

23.3

5.0

13.4

11.4

8.2

12.3

39.0

13.2

6.4

25.0

4.9

15.5

s
n
o
i
t
c
u
r
t
s
n
o
c
d
e
x
i
F

4.7

5.1

3.7

4.9

4.7

4.4

0.0

3.8

5.1

6.9

4.1

6.3

0.0

6.0

10.3

3.0

4.0

13.1

4.1

8.7

11.2

8.4

3.5

3.6

2.5

4.3

3.2

4.4

3.4

3.4

9.7

3.8

0.0

5.2

8.1

2.1

1.3

1.7

0.4

0.6

0.6

2.4

2.5

1.6

r
e
p
a
p

;
s
e

l
i
t
x
e
T

1.9

2.0

1.5

2.8

0.4

2.1

0.0

0.6

1.9

1.5

1.3

3.5

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.3

0.2

0.0

1.1

2.3

1.9

1.1

0.0

1.0

3.3

3.2

2.0

0.6

0.0

0.0

0.8

2.1

0.0

13.5

0.1

0.4

0.8

0.2

0.6

1.0

2.4

1.0

1.2

0.8

;

g
n
i
t
h
g

i
l

;

l
a
c
i
n
a
h
c
e
M

g
n
i
r
e
e
n
g
n
e

i

;
s
n
o
p
a
e
w

;

g
n
i
t
a
e
h

g
n
i
t
s
a
l
b

12.0

4.9

13.5

15.2

12.5

14.7

0.0

5.9

13.4

10.6

10.9

13.1

13.6

5.6

0.0

23.5

5.8

26.1

6.7

11.2

14.2

10.7

25.8

5.9

14.8

5.6

9.8

9.5

3.4

12.6

9.1

7.2

7.0

22.7

6.4

5.6

4.7

3.7

3.4

9.8

6.9

9.1

7.9

6.2

s
c
i
s
y
h
P

14.7

10.9

36.1

8.7

11.5

13.9

13.2

25.7

11.6

8.9

15.8

9.4

20.5

0.0

0.0

12.6

17.6

0.0

22.7

11.2

13.9

11.9

26.7

6.1

1.0

19.4

14.4

18.7

20.6

3.4

20.7

17.7

5.5

9.4

18.0

26.6

10.3

22.8

11.9

23.2

25.5

15.2

20.1

20.3

y
t
i
c
i
r
t
c
e
E

l

16.6

13.9

5.5

14.7

13.9

14.5

41.9

17.8

17.2

12.0

19.1

10.3

2.3

3.0

17.3

9.5

23.9

14.8

18.8

19.7

14.3

22.3

11.3

4.7

24.3

38.6

27.8

17.7

3.4

6.0

11.2

11.2

25.1

16.9

8.7

26.8

55.6

17.9

10.1

25.4

45.2

14.8

30.6

19.5

Source: Eurostat (online data code: pat_ep_nipc)

102

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Patents

6

Figure 6.3: Patent applications submitted by business 
enterprise sector (BES) as a percentage of total, EU-27 and 
selected countries, 2006

LT
EL

RO
CY
EE

BG
RU
SG

PT
SI
TW

MX
PL
ZA
LV

BR
LI
CZ

ES
SK
AU

IE
HU
HR
TR

IL
LU
AT

IN
BE
FR

CN
IS
NZ

IT
CA
UK
MT

EU-27
NO
DK

NL
CH
KR

DE
US
FI

SE
JP

27.6

42.6

52.2

54.6

56.0

58.9
59.3
60.4

65.8
65.9
66.9

67.1
68.0
68.1

72.8
73.5
73.6

73.6
74.1
74.9
75.4

75.7
76.9
77.4

77.6

79.3
80.3

81.0

82.5
83.3
83.5

84.3
84.6
84.6

85.0
85.2
85.8

86.9
87.2
88.1

88.1
88.4
89.7
90.0

90.3
90.7

93.4

95.0

96.6

0

20

40

60

80

100

%

Source: Eurostat (online data code: pat_ep_nic)

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

103

6 Patents

Figure 6.4: ICT patent applications to the EPO as a 
percentage of total, EU-27 and selected countries, 2006

KR
CN
EE
FI
CA
JP
TW
IE
IL
HU
SE
US
NL
UK
PT
FR
AU
NO
EU-27
EL
RU
PL
AT
DK
BE
DE
CH
TR
LU
IN
CZ
ES
IT
SI
BG
IS
SK
RO
HR
LI
LV

61.3

56.4

52.7

51.6

49.1

43.0

40.7

38.0
37.4
36.7
36.0

34.9
34.6

31.9
30.9

28.1
27.9

26.8

25.4
25.2
25.2
24.7
23.7

22.4
22.0
21.9
21.6

20.3
20.3
19.7

17.0

15.8
15.5

9.7
9.3

7.5
6.9
6.9
6.6

0.8
0.5

0

15

30

45

60

%

Source: Eurostat (online data code: pat_ep_nict)

Cut-off: at least 10 patent applications. 

104

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

Patents

6

Figure 6.5: Biotechnology patent applications to the EPO as 
a percentage of total, EU-27 and selected countries, 2006

18.6

14.4

12.5

10.8

10.4

9.6

9.5

EE
RU

AU
DK
IN
IS

HR
BE
CA
US

IL
NL
SK

PL
EL
SI
ES

UK
PT
IE
FR

AT
NO
EU-27
SE

CZ
CH
JP
HU

DE
CN
KR

IT
TW
FI
RO

LU
TR

8.3

7.6
7.5

7.3
7.2
6.8
6.5

6.3
6.1
6.0
5.9

5.8

5.3

4.6

4.4
4.4
4.3

3.8

3.7
3.6
3.4
3.3

3.2
3.1
2.8
2.7

2.5
2.5

1.5
1.4

0.3

0

5

10

15

20

%

Source: Eurostat (online data code: pat_ep_nbio)

Cut-off: at least 10 patent applications. 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

105

6 Patents

Figure 6.6: Distribution of nanotechnology patent 
applications to the EPO, EU-27, Japan and United States and 
others, 2006

EU-27
36%

Others
14%

JP
18%

US
32%

Source: Eurostat (online data code: pat_ep_nnano) 

106

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

Patents

6

Figure 6.7: Energy technologies PCT applications 
designated to the EPO at EU-27 level by energy technology as 
percentage of total, 2006

   54.6

10.9

Traditional 
engines

Lighting

Heat exchange

Solar

Fuel cells

Wind

Carbon Capture
and Storage

Hydrogen

Storage and 
transport 

7.1

6.8

5.7

5.2

2.9

2.7

2.2

Smart grids

1.4

Tide and wave

1.2

Waste heat 
recovery

0.9

Biomass

0.9

Efficient Buildings

0.8

Heat pump

0.7

Biofuels

0.4

Stirling engines

0.3

Geothermal

0.3

0

5

10

15

20

%

Source: Eurostat (online data code: pat_ep_nrgpct) 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

107

6 Patents

Table 6.8 (Part I): Patent applications to the EPO on energy 
technologies EU-27 and selected countries, 2006

e
r
u
t
p
a
C
n
o
b
r
a
C

e
g
a
r
o
t
S
d
n
a

s
g
n
d

i

l
i

u
B
t
n
e
i
c

ffi
E

s
l
l
e
c
l
e
u
F

81

44

209

s
l
e
u
f
o
B

i

EU-27

14

BE

CZ

DK

DE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

LU

NL

AT

PL

FI

SE

UK

NO

CH

TR

AU

CA

CN

IL

IN

JP

KR

RU

TW

US

2

:

2

:

:

:

:

:

1

:

6

:

:

:

:

3

1

:

:

:

1

:

:

:

2

:

:

:

5

s
s
a
m
o
B

i

48

1

:

:

1

:

3

1

2

1

19

41

22

1

2

1

1

2

:

7

1

:

:

:

14

:

:

:

:

1

:

2

:

4

:

:

:

:

:

1

14

2

:

7

2

:

1

4

6

6

4

:

3

8

3

1

0

21

3

0

:

1

:

1

4

5

0

3

2

:

2

:

:

:

2

:

2

1

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

1

:

10

114

:

2

3

14

18

:

8

4

:

2

7

28

2

2

:

1

25

4

2

:

247

55

:

6

e
g
n
a
h
c
x
e
t
a
e
H

p
m
u
p
t
a
e
H

n
e
g
o
r
d
y
H

27

324

97

:

1

1

4

1

6

:

:

2

l
a
m
r
e
h
t
o
e
G

17

2

:

:

10

13

161

41

:

:

:

:

1

:

:

:

:

2

1

1

:

1

:

1

1

:

:

:

:

:

1

1

2

:

:

:

3

:

:

:

2

:

3

2

2

1

:

:

:

:

1

:

:

6

1

:

:

4

:

:

9

49

26

5

16

7

4

4

20

13

2

6

2

3

12

6

3

5

:

:

2

15

8

:

20

1

:

:

1

8

:

5

1

:

3

2

2

1

62

36

9

3

4

8

2

1

76

52

23

60

12

128

Source: Eurostat (online data code: pat_ep_nrg) 

108

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Patents

6

Table 6.8 (Part II): Patent applications to the EPO on energy 
technologies EU-27 and selected countries, 2006

t
r
o
p
s
n
a
r
t
d
n
a
e
g
a
r
o
t
S

i

s
e
n
g
n
e
l
a
n
o
i
t
i
d
a
r
T

s
d
i
r
g
t
r
a
m
S

r
a
l
o
S

72

236

94

2 507

1

3

1

2

:

2

1

:

1

28

7

26

23

124

32

1 310

1

1

2

8

9

:

5

3

:

2

9

5

:

2

:

1

1

:

1

1

12

2

:

:

:

1

23

12

10

:

35

10

:

1

3

7

1

7

2

3

12

12

2

:

252

53

1

8

:

:

:

24

12

1

10

3

:

1

1

6

10

:

:

2

7

:

1

:

:

8

21

409

209

8

48

58

6

18

106

239

9

87

6

21

55

18

11

9

11

1 196

4

1

1

38

8

18

40

154

32

961

y
r
e
v
o
c
e
r

t
a
e
h
e
t
s
a
W

d
n
W

i

l

s
e
i
g
o
o
n
h
c
e
t
y
g
r
e
n
E

40

198

4 347

1

:

2

23

:

:

:

0

4

:

3

2

:

:

2

3

:

7

:

0

2

:

:

:

:

:

54

69

:

1

18

5

10

1

13

2

:

6

2

14

2

1

:

3

6

8

2

:

51

15

107

2 096

11

17

101

603

366

15

234

116

11

45

161

379

37

126

11

43

137

73

27

17

12

10

1 910

7

:

:

4

2

:

205

22

52

11

28

1 697

e
v
a
w
d
n
a
e
d
i
T

38

2

:

:

5

2

2

4

4

2

:

:

:

:

2

1

15

3

1

:

5

1

1

2

:

1

:

1

:

5

i

s
e
n
g
n
e
g
n

i
l
r
i
t
S

7

:

:

:

1

:

:

:

2

:

:

:

:

:

:

1

3

:

:

:

1

:

:

:

:

4

:

:

:

5

g
n
i
t
h
g
i
L

EU-27

484

BE

CZ

DK

DE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

LU

NL

AT

PL

FI

SE

UK

NO

CH

TR

AU

CA

CN

IL

IN

JP

KR

RU

TW

US

9

1

8

182

6

1

22

55

57

:

74

23

1

6

8

30

1

10

:

3

19

23

:

1

113

37

3

15

158

Source: Eurostat (online data code: pat_ep_nrg) 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

109

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6 Patents

Figure 6.9: Foreign ownership of domestic inventions in 
patent applications to the EPO as a percentage of total, EU-27 
and selected countries, 2006

RO
RU
M T
SK
HU
BG
EE
HR
PT
IN
PL
BE
LU
CZ
IE
UK
AT
LV
CA
CN
EL
CY
NO
SI
LT
ES
AU
NL
IL
DK
CH
FR
SE
TW
LI
IT
TR
DE
US
FI
EU-27
IS
JP
KR

0

20

40

60

80

%

Source: Eurostat (online data code: pat_ep_nfgn) 

110

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

Patents

6

Figure 6.10: EU co-patenting at the EPO according to 
inventors’ country of residence (as a percentage), 2006

Co-patents 
involving 
inventors from the 
declaring country 
and one or more 
EU Member States
4.8%

Co-patents 
involving 
inventors from the 
declaring country, 
one or more EU 
Member States 
and one or more 
non EU countries
0.6%

Single inventors
37.8%

Co-patents 
involving 
inventors from the 
declaring country
56.9%

Source: Eurostat (online data code: pat_ep_cpi) 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

111

6 Patents

Table 6.11: EU patent citations referring to non-EU and EU 
patent publications, 1991–2007

Number of citations 
in EU patents 
referring to non-EU 
patent publications

Number of citations 
in EU patents 
referring to EU 
patent publications

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

5 720

5 145

4 615

4 497

4 303

4 552

4 356

4 255

4 244

3 711

3 015

2 403

2 097

1 495

898

7 647

6 722

6 380

5 948

5 618

5 889

5 992

5 890

5 809

5 082

4 696

3 995

3 570

3 003

2 160

323 p

52 p

1 199 p

192 p

Source: Eurostat (online data code: pat_ep_cta) 

112

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

Patents

6

Figure 6.12: Regional disparities (NUTS 2 level) in patent 
applications to the EPO, EU-27, 2006

BE

BG

CZ

DK(¹)

DE

EE

IE

 Prov. Namur

Prov. Brabant Wallon

Yugozapaden

 Severozapaden

Praha

Severozapad

Sachsen-Anhalt

Stuttgart

Border, Midland and Western

Southern and Eastern

EL(²)

Kriti

Sterea Ellada, Ionia Nisia etc.

Comunidad Floral de Navarra

Extremadura

Guyane

Molise

Île de France

Emilia Romagna

Kozep-Magyarorszag

Nyugat-Dunántúl

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

Friesland

AT

Burgenland

PL

Malopolskie

Swietokrzyskie

PT(³)

Lisboa
Algrave etc.

RO

Bucuresti-Ilfov

Sud-Muntenia

SI(¹)

Noord-Brabant

Vorarlberg

SK

Bratislavsky kraj

Západné Slovensko

FI

Itä-Suomi

Etelä-Suomi

SE

UK(¹)

Mellersta Norrland

Sydsverige

West Wales and The Valleys

Berks. Buckinghams. & Oxfordshire

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000 1100 1200 1300 1400

(1) 2006 Labour force data missing for Danish and Slovenian regions and for UKM5 and 
UKM6.
(2) EL: Anatoliki Makedonia, Thraki and Dytiki Makedonia also no patent applications in 
2006.
(3) PT: Região Autónoma dos Açores (PT) and Região Autónoma da Madeira (PT) also no 
patent applications in 2006. 

Source: Eurostat (online data code: pat_ep_rtot) 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

113

6 Patents

Figure 6.13: Top 30 regions in terms of total patent 
applications to the EPO and share of high-tech patent 
applications, per million inhabitants, 2006

Noord-Brabant (NL)

Stuttgart (DE)

Oberbayern (DE)

Tübingen (DE)

Karlsruhe (DE)

Mittelfranken (DE)

Freiburg (DE)

Vorarlberg (AT)

Unterfranken (DE)

Rheinhessen-Pfalz (DE)

Stockholm (SE)

Oberpfalz (DE)

Darmstadt (DE)

Sydsverige (SE)

Schwaben (DE)

Etelä-Suomi (FI)

Prov. Brabant Wallon (BE)

Düsseldorf (DE)

Oberfranken (DE)

Östra Mellansverige (SE)

Västsverige (SE)

Île de France (FR)

Köln (DE)

Detmold (DE)

Länsi-Suomi (FI)

Oberösterreich (AT)

Rhône-Alpes (FR)

Wien (AT)

Luxembourg (LU)

Gießen (DE)

0

200

400

600

800

(cid:43)(cid:76)(cid:74)(cid:75)(cid:16)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:70)(cid:75)(cid:3)(cid:83)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:83)(cid:83)(cid:79)(cid:76)(cid:70)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:86)
(cid:55)(cid:82)(cid:87)(cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:3)(cid:83)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:83)(cid:83)(cid:79)(cid:76)(cid:70)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:86)

Source: Eurostat (online data code: pat_ep_rtot and pat_ep_rtec) 

114

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

High Technology
High Technology

High Technology

7

In  2009,  venture  capital  investment  (VCI)  at  early  stage  in 
the EU-15 amounted to almost EUR 1.9 billion, or 0.02 % of 
GDP. This was far below the EUR 11.2 billion (0.10 % of GDP) 
invested in buyouts and the EUR 8.1 billion (0.07 % of GDP) 
for VCI at expansion and replacement stage. Early-stage VCI 
was  highest  in  Germany,  at  EUR  0.4  billion,  while  VCI  at 
expansion and replacement stage and in the form of buyouts 
was  highest  in  the  United  Kingdom,  at  EUR  2.7  billion  and 
EUR 5.7 billion respectively.

In  2007,  Italy  had  the  most  high-tech  manufacturing 
enterprises  (30  785)  in  the  EU.  However,  Germany  ranked 
first in terms of turnover, production value and value added in 
high-tech manufacturing, followed by France. 

The United Kingdom was the leading EU Member State in the 
high-tech KIS sector, with 128 717 enterprises, and also ranked 
first in terms of turnover, production value, value added and 
gross investment in tangible goods.

In  2008,  China  led  the  world  market  in  terms  of  high-tech 
exports, with a share of 21.5 %, followed by the EU-27 (16.7 %) 
and  the  United  States  (14.1  %).  The  EU-27  and  China  were 
in  the  lead  in  terms  of  high-tech  imports,  with  18.5  %  and 
17.2 % respectively of the world market, followed closely by the 
United States with 16.3 %.

At EU level, the high-tech trade balance was negative in 2008, 
with  imports  some  EUR  29.5  billion  higher  than  exports. 
Within the EU-27, Germany was the leading exporter of high-
tech products, with 8.2 % of the world market, followed by the 
Netherlands (4.7 %) and France (4.5 %). 

In  a  majority  of  EU  Member  States,  intra-EU  trade  in  high-
tech  products  was  higher  than  extra-EU  trade.  Portugal, 
Malta,  Sweden  and,  to  a  lesser  extent,  France,  Italy  and  the 
United Kingdom exported more to countries outside the EU.

In  terms  of  global  export  shares,  the  EU-27  was  in  the  lead 
in numerous product groups such as ‘Aerospace’, ‘Chemistry’, 
‘Non-electrical  machinery’, 
‘Scientific 
instruments’,  whereas  the  United  States  ranked  first  only 
in  ‘Armament’.  China  was  the  world’s  foremost  exporter 
in  the  ‘Computers-office  machines’  and  ‘Electronics  and 
telecommunication’  product  groups,  while  other  Asian 
countries were leading exporters of ‘Electrical machinery’.

‘Pharmacy’  and 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

119

7 High Technology

In  2009,  5.7  million  people  were  employed  in  the  high-tech 
KIS sector in the EU-27, whereas fewer than 2.4 million were 
employed in the high-tech manufacturing sector. Employment 
in high-tech manufacturing decreased by 6.0 % between 2008 
and  2009,  while  employment  in  high-tech  KIS  dropped  by 
0.1  %.  Female  workers  in  the  EU-27  were  under-represented 
in  both  high-tech  KIS  (31.1  %)  and  high tech  manufacturing 
(37.7 %).

In  all  countries,  the  share  of  tertiary-educated  people  was 
higher  in  the  high-tech  sectors  than  in  all  sectors.  In  Spain 
and Lithuania, the tertiary-educated population accounted for 
more than two thirds of high-tech employment, while the EU 
average stood at 52.7 %.

In 2009, capital regions and the surrounding areas were often 
ranked  high  for  employment  in  the  high-tech  sectors.  The 
leading region in this respect was Berkshire, Buckinghamshire 
and Oxfordshire (UK), where high-tech sectors accounted for 
10.0 % of total employment.

120

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

High Technology

7

Table 7.1: Venture Capital Investment (VCI) by stage of 
development in EUR million and as a percentage of GDP,  
EU-15 and selected countries, 2009

VCI at early stage

VCI at expansion and 
replacement stage

Buyouts

Amount 
invested in 
EUR million

% of GDP

Amount 
invested in 
EUR million

% of GDP

Amount 
invested in 
EUR million

% of GDP

EU-15

1 890.5 i

0.02 i

8 143.5 i

0.07 i

11 173.8 i

0.10 i

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

LU

HU

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

FI

SE

UK

NO

CH

US

131.1

4.1

0.0

79.4

436.2

29.9

5.0

44.5

353.2

40.0

38.3

0.5

110.6

18.3

1.1

30.4

0.5

57.1

111.8

404.6

82.5

195.0

4 530.5

0.04

0.01

0.00

0.04

0.02

0.02

0.00

0.00

0.02

0.00

0.10

0.00

0.02

0.01

0.00

0.02

0.00

0.03

0.04

0.03

0.03

0.05

0.04

471.8

2.2

10.4

120.2

612.3

26.4

16.2

543.4

1 625.3

627.0

35.3

3.3

427.3

72.8

72.5

150.6

56.6

234.8

456.0

2 724.1

141.0

285.8

8 423.4

0.14

0.01

0.01

0.05

0.03

0.02

0.01

0.05

0.09

0.04

0.09

0.00

0.07

0.03

0.02

0.09

0.05

0.14

0.16

0.17

0.05

0.08

0.08

456.1

0.0

51.0

288.6

1 375.8

8.5

140.2

307.5

1 411.8

325.5

0.0

187.4

213.3

41.5

411.1

118.2

21.5

96.8

647.4

5 742.6

384.8

229.4

:

0.13

0.00

0.04

0.13

0.06

0.01

0.06

0.03

0.07

0.02

0.00

0.20

0.04

0.02

0.13

0.07

0.02

0.06

0.22

0.37

0.14

0.06

:

Source: Eurostat (online data code: htec_vci_earl, htec_vci_exre and htec_vci_buyout)

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

121

7 High Technology

Table 7.2: VCI in terms of number of investments and 
number of companies by stage of development, EU-15 and 
selected countries, 2009

VCI at early stage

VCI at expansion and 
replacement stage

Buyouts

Number of 
investments

Number of 
companies

Number of 
investments

Number of 
companies

Number of 
investments

Number of 
companies

EU-15

3 112 i

2 094 i

3 236 i

2 205 i

737 i

552 i 

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

HU

LU

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

FI

SE

UK

NO

CH

US

136

2

0

94

962

70

1

60

482

24

27

2

179

51

1

83

2

229

280

434

171

110

1 252

102

2

0

70

659

51

1

53

247

18

20

2

138

49

1

54

2

159

194

279

106

83

:

144

1

12

44

711

27

3

118

804

82

9

6

183

33

18

50

16

97

205

726

90

98

1 641

132

1

6

35

620

20

3

86

432

66

8

6

155

32

17

38

11

74

118

386

61

69

:

23

0

6

15

94

3

3

24

245

24

0

2

19

13

14

6

4

41

37

190

14

25

:

19

0

5

13

86

3

3

20

147

22

0

2

17

13

13

6

4

27

32

144

12

21

:

Source: Eurostat (online data code: htec_vci_earl, htec_vci_exre and htec_vci_buyout)

122

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

High Technology

7

Table 7.3: Economic statistics on high-technology 
manufacturing sector by NACE Rev.1.1, EU-27 and selected 
countries, 2007

High-tech manufacturing

Number of 
enterprises

Turnover in
EUR million

Production 
value in EUR 
million

Value added
in EUR million

Gross 
investment in 
tangible 
goods in EUR 
million

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

NO

2 122

1 287

: c

1 104

21 404

265

334

2 531

8 091

16 038

30 785

: c

263

423

82

16 848

696

19 073

666

: c

: c

: c

: c

7 265

239

: c

: c

284

: c

: c

: c

187 582

171 760

61 241

6 690

: c

: c

: c

: c

40 599

2 111

29 165

39 439

1 992

26 415

128 776

116 543

49 685

49 723

: c

: c

453

: c

: c

: c

376

: c

10 774

874

7 886

38 157

20 338

: c

: c

129

: c

812

86

1 105

4 234

2 732

:

: c

34

: c

5 616

20 889

18 960

2 748

650

:

3 030

2 070

14 242

1 786

2 133

903

455

1 286

3 582

10 753

786

:

: c

:

: c

10 376

11 992

9 561

10 953

: c

: c

2 296

2 213

: c

: c

5 804

41 426

27 984

90 247

5 785

5 699

24 173

29 521

85 497

5 647

:

: c

4 242

3 049

: c

733

: c

735

9 342

11 102

38 768

2 225

:

: c

630

:

: c

726

: c

247

321

:

: c

283

Source: Eurostat (online data code: htec_eco_sbs)

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

123

7 High Technology

Table 7.4: Economic statistics on high-technology 
knowledge intensive services by NACE Rev.1.1, EU-27 and 
selected countries, 2007

High-tech knowledge intensive services (KIS)

Number of 
enterprises

Turnover in
EUR million

Production 
value in EUR 
million

Value added
in EUR 
million

Gross 
investment in 
tangible 
goods in EUR 
million

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

NO

19 296

4 881

31 213  

30 817  

13 457  

2 668  

2 500  

1 256  

: c

: c

: c

: c

10 175

69 173

1 583

6 873

9 912

40 305

72 244

19 383  

17 070  

9 074  

168 779  

142 227  

85 973  

1 163  

1 079  

27 365  

15 498  

11 626  

9 439  

507  

6 521  

5 632  

70 084  

56 129  

33 518  

136 872  

132 755  

68 098  

108 677

107 040  

104 659  

50 321  

:

1 885

2 945

1 283

:  

1 282  

1 492  

:  

1 202  

1 331  

: c

: c

:  

620  

627  

: c

29 469

10 272  

6 677  

3 900  

:

27 030

13 466

41 943

14 519

17 457

4 369

2 249

6 575

37 170

:  

:  

:  

49 052  

47 629  

22 692  

16 962  

12 332  

19 365  

17 090  

12 010  

11 289  

8 216  

2 845  

3 798  

7 404  

2 436  

3 356  

13 629  

12 872  

7 765  

9 388  

5 078  

3 771  

1 221  

1 759  

6 319  

: c

: c

: c

128 717

229 999  

215 883  

118 214  

12 234

18 462  

17 817  

8 507  

1 557  

480  

: c

1 180  

9 636  

126  

1 614  

1 194  

4 787  

11 211  

7 150  

:  

178  

193  

: c

704  

:  

2 411  

1 285  

2 033  

1 224  

2 012  

352  

471  

858  

: c

16 016  

1 234  

Source: Eurostat (online data code: htec_eco_sbs)

124

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
High Technology

7

Figure 7.5: World market share of high-technology exports, 
EU-27 and selected countries, 2008 (1)

 21.5

 16.7

 14.1

CN (²)

EU-27 (³)

US

HK

JP

SG

KR

ASIOTH (4)

 3.4

 8.1

 7.2

 7.0

 6.3

MX

MY

CH

TH

CA

PH

IL

IN

 2.4

 2.4

 2.4

 1.8

 1.7

 1.4

 0.5

 0.4

NO

 0.3

RU

 0.3

ID

 0.3

BR

 0.3

AU

 0.2

0

5

10

15

20

25

%

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2007 (KR). 
(2) CN excluding HK. 
(3) EU-27 excluding intra-EU trade. 
(4) ASIOTH: Other Asia, n.e.s. This includes mainly Taiwan. 

Source: Eurostat (online data code: htec_trd_weu4)

Estimation of total high-tech trade by including KR data from 2007. 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

125

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7 High Technology

Figure 7.6: World market share of high-technology imports, 
EU-27 and selected countries, 2008 (1)

18.5

17.2

16.3

8.5

5.2

5.2

EU-27 (²)

CN (³)

US

HK

JP

SG

KR

MX

CA

MY

RU

TH

CH

BR

ASIOTH (4)

3.6

2.9

2.6

1.9

1.6

1.5

1.4

1.4

1.4

AU

IN

PH

ID

NO

1.3

1.0

0.9

0.6

0.6

IL

0.4

0

5

10

15

20

%

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2007 (KR). 
(2) EU-27 excluding intra-EU trade. 
(3) CN excluding HK.
(4) ASIOTH: Other Asia, n.e.s. This includes mainly Taiwan. 

Source: Eurostat (online data code: htec_trd_weu4) 

Estimation of total high-tech trade by including KR data from 2007. 

126

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
High Technology

7

Table 7.7: High-technology trade in EUR million, as a 
percentage of total, EU-27 and selected countries, 2008 (1)

Import

Balance

Export

EUR million

as a % of  total 
imports

EUR million

EUR million

as a % of  total 
exports

EU-27 (²)
BE
BG
CZ
DK
DE
EE
IE
EL
ES
FR
IT
CY
LV
LT
LU
HU
MT
NL
AT
PL
PT
RO
SI
SK
FI
SE
UK
IS
NO
CH
HR
MK
TR
AU
BR
CA
CN(³)
HK
IL
JP
KR
MX
RU
SG
TH
US

230 265

21 533  
1 572  
14 600  
7 663  
107 370  
866  
13 236  
5 107  
28 491  
54 037  
31 010  
482  
774  
1 064  
5 890  
12 705  
736  
64 794  
13 263  
14 041  
5 989  
4 956  
1 790  
4 726  
8 420  
14 685  
58 018  
255  
7 304  
17 975  
1 649  
279  
10 560  
15 647
17 918
31 770
213 319
105 211
4 577
65 152
44 864
35 468
19 608
64 418
18 679
202 771

11.9  
6.8  
6.3  
15.1  
10.2  
13.3  
7.9  
23.2  
8.5  
10.0  
11.3  
8.2  
6.7  
7.1  
5.0  
27.4  
17.2  
22.7  
16.4  
10.6  
9.9  
9.8  
8.7  
7.1  
9.5  
13.5  
12.9  
13.5  
6.1  
11.4  
14.4  
7.9  
6.0  
7.7  

12.0
15.2
11.4
27.7
39.4
10.3
12.6
17.2
16.9
10.8
29.6
15.4
13.8

-29 536
268
-1 029
-485
859
14 934
-231
7 520
-4 097
-20 524
12 861
-9 243
-270
-454
-16
175
2 225
145
5 295
96
-9 091
-3 664
-3 136
-585
-2 395
2 945
2 187
-10 787
-195
-3 340
10 350
-1 009
-253
-9 259
-12 687
-14 319
-11 174
45 198
-7 900
1 933
21 208
31 438
-6 160
-15 890
19 435
3 401
-33 209

200 729

21 801  
543  
14 115  
8 522  
122 304  
634  
20 756  
1 011  
7 966  
66 898  
21 767  
212  
319  
1 048  
6 065  
14 930  
881  
70 089  
13 358  
4 950  
2 325  
1 819  
1 205  
2 331  
11 366  
16 872  
47 231  
59  
3 964  
28 325  
639  
26  
1 301  
2 960
3 599
20 596
258 517
97 312
6 510
86 360
76 302
29 308
3 718
83 854
22 081
169 562

12.0
6.8
3.6
14.1
10.8
12.4
7.5
24.3
5.9
4.2
16.4
6.0
19.1
4.6
6.5
35.2
20.2
45.0
16.2
10.8
4.3
6.1
5.4
5.2
4.8
17.3
13.5
15.1
1.6
3.3
20.8
6.8
1.0
1.5
2.3
2.7
6.6
26.6
38.7
15.6
16.3
28.2
14.8
1.2
36.5
18.5
19.2

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2007 (KR). 
(2) EU-27 does not include intra-EU trade and therefore does not correspond to the sum 
of Member States. 
(³) CN excluding HK.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: htec_trd_tot4) 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

127

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7 High Technology

Figure 7.8: World market share for high-technology 
exports, EU-27 Member States and selected countries, 2008

8.2

4.7

4.5

3.2

DE

NL

FR

UK

CH

BE

IT

IE

SE

HU

CZ

AT

FI

DK

ES

LU

PL

NO

SK

PT

RO

TR

SI

LT

EL

MT

HR

EE

BG

LV

CY

IS

MK

1.9

1.5

1.5

1.4

1.1

1.0

1.0

0.9

0.8

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.3

0.2

0.2

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0

2

4

6

8

10

%

Source: Eurostat (online data code: htec_trd_wms4) 

Estimation of total high-tech trade by including KR data from 2007. 

128

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
High Technology

7

Figure 7.9: Intra and extra EU exports of high-tech 
products,  EU-27 Member States and selected countries, 2008

PT

MT

SE

TR

IS

MK

FR

IT

UK

SI

FI

NO

DK

IE

LT

HR

EL

DE

LV

ES

BG

HU

AT

CH

BE

PL

RO

NL

CZ

EE

SK

CY

LU

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Source: Eurostat (online data code: htec_trd_tot4) 

Extra EU- 27

Intra EU- 27

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

129

7 High Technology

Figure 7.10: High-tech exports by high-technology group 
of products, EU-27 and selected countries, 2008 (1)

EU -27
BE
BG
CZ
DK
DE
EE
IE
EL
ES
FR
IT
CY
LV
LT
LU
HU
MT
NL
AT
PL
PT
RO
SI
SK
FI
SE
UK
IS
NO
CH
HR
MK
TR
AU
BR
CA
CN(²)
HK
IL
JP
KR
MX
RU
SG
TH
US

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Electronics-telecom.
Scientific instruments
Pharmacy

Computers-office machines
Aerospace
Other (³)

(1) Exception to the reference year: 2007 (KR). 
(2) CN excluding HK. 
(3) ‘Other’ includes ‘Electrical machinery’, ‘Chemistry’, ‘Non-electrical machinery’ and 
‘Armament’. 

Source: Eurostat (online data code: htec_trd_group4) 

130

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
High Technology

7

Figure 7.11: World shares (export) of ‘Aerospace’, 
‘Armament’ and ‘Chemistry’, EU-27 and main exporters, 2008

Other
6 %

SG
1 %

JP
2 %

HK
3 %

CA
5 %

Aerospace

EU -27 (¹ )
58 %

US
25 %

CH

5 %

NO

6 %

CA

8 %

Other

14 %

IL

3 %

Armament

US

42 %

EU -27 (¹ )

22 %

Chemistry

Other

30 %

IN

5 %

CA

5 %

EU-27(¹ )

22 %

CN(²)

17 %

JP

5 %

US

16 %

(1) EU-27 excluding intra-EU trade.
(2) CN excluding HK.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: htec_trd_weu4) 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

131

7 High Technology

Figure 7.12: World shares (export) of ‘Computers-
office machines’, ‘Electrical machinery’ and ‘Eletronics-
telecommunication’, EU-27 and main exporters, 2008

Other
20 %

Computers-
office machines

CN(²)
40 %

HK
8%

Other
26 %

EU -27 (¹ )
8%

US
11 %

ASIOTH( ³)
16 %

Electrical 
machinery

CN(²)
15 %

MY
7%

SG
7%

HK
8 %

US
10 %

Other

22%

EU -27 (¹ )
11 %

JP
14 %

CN (²

)

22%

JP

9%

Electronics-

telecommunication

HK

13%

EU -27 (¹

)

11%

US

12%

SG

11%

(1) EU-27 excluding intra-EU trade.
(2) CN excluding HK. 
(3) ASIOTH: Other Asia, n.e.s. This includes mainly Taiwan.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: htec_trd_weu4) 

132

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
High Technology

7

Figure 7.13: World shares (export) of ‘Non-electrical 
machinery’, ‘Pharmacy’ and ‘Scientific instruments’ EU-27 and 
main exporters, 2008

Other
14 %

Non - electrical
machinery

EU -27 (¹ )
32 %

JP
15 %

JP
2%

Other
7%

US
23 %

EU-27 (¹)
39 %

Pharmacy

ASIOTH( ³)
3%

CN(²)
3 %

CH
 9 %

IN
3%

CN(²)
4%

US
21 %

CH
23 %

Other

18%

Scientific 

instruments

KR

9%

ASIOTH

9%

EU-27 (¹)

20%

US

18%

JP

11%

CN (²)

15%

(1) EU-27 excluding intra-EU trade.
(2) CN excluding HK. 
(3) ASIOTH: Other Asia, n.e.s. This includes mainly Taiwan.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: htec_trd_weu4) 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

133

 
 
 
7 High Technology

Table 7.14: Statistics on employment in high-technology 
manufacturing sector by NACE Rev.2, EU-27 and selected 
countries, 2009 (1)

Total  in 

1 000's

% of total 

employment

% of women

AGR 

2008-2009

EU-27 (²)

2 398

s

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

IS

NO

CH

HR

MK

TR

51

27

68

44

677

7

57

19

93

265

250

1

5

:

:

95

4

58

43

122

28

53

16

34

40

36

297

:

13

117

8

6

57

u

u

u

u

u

u

1.1

1.2

0.8

1.4

1.6

1.8

1.2

3.0

0.4

0.5

1.0

1.1

0.3

0.5

:

:

2.5

2.6

0.7

1.1

0.8

0.6

0.6

1.7

1.5

1.6

0.8

1.0

u

u

u

:

u

0.5

2.8

0.5

1.0

0.3

u

s

-6.0

s

s

37.7

39.4

45.7

52.2

42.2

33.7

u

:

u

u

u

u

-17.9

0.4

-7.3

0.2

7.7

4.7

-6.1

-9.8

-38.0

-13.3

2.0

-36.6

15.4

:

:

-12.0

-2.0

-9.5

-1.5

-2.8

-15.4

3.5

-3.2

-20.4

-14.5

3.6

-13.2

:

u

-21.6

3.7

-36.9

u

:

:

36.0

39.9

41.3

36.1

34.3

:

73.7

:

:

49.9

43.3

29.2

35.1

47.2

59.7

46.9

47.8

57.1

34.6

34.8

31.9

:

:

34.7

:

:

23.2

u

u

u

u

u

u

u

u

u

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2008 (LU, MK). 
(2) Eurostat estimate.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: htec_emp_nat2) 

134

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
High Technology

7

Table 7.15: Statistics on employment in high-tech 
knowledge-intensive services sector by NACE Rev.2, EU-27 
and selected countries, 2009 (1)

Total  in 

1 000's

% of total 

employment

% of women

AGR 

2008-2009

EU-27 (²)

5 694

s

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

IE

EL

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

IS

NO

CH

HR

MK

TR

145

68

129

102

968

13

71

77

563

730

520

9

20

24

7

83

5

281

106

307

85

117

31

48

99

190

894

7

84

129

34

29

139

u

s

u

2.6

3.3

2.1

2.6

3.7

2.5

2.2

3.7

1.7

3.0

2.9

2.3

2.3

2.0

1.7

3.3

2.2

3.3

3.3

2.6

1.9

1.7

1.3

3.2

2.0

4.0

4.2

3.1

4.5

3.4

3.0

2.1

4.7

0.7

s

u

u

u

u

u

u

u

31.1

28.5

42.9

28.3

28.5

31.2

43.4

30.3

30.0

34.6

31.6

31.7

31.7

29.2

40.7

27.4

32.1

:

23.6

30.1

33.1

32.6

36.7

29.8

28.2

37.2

30.4

28.3

30.3

29.0

29.6

35.9

10.5

26.9

-0.1

9.9

-7.4

9.9

-0.4

1.1

-5.2

2.4

2.1

13.8

8.7

-2.1

-9.0

-16.3

1.0

:

-6.1

-10.1

-3.3

8.5

7.2

2.8

4.5

11.6

6.7

-5.3

0.6

-16.3

1.2

14.7

5.1

-1.2

:

:

u

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2008 (LU, MK). 
(2) Eurostat estimate.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: htec_emp_nat2) 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

135

 
 
 
7 High Technology

Figure 7.16: Share of tertiary educated persons in all sectors 
and in high-tech sectors by NACE Rev.2, EU-27 and selected 
countries, 2009 (1)

ES

LT

BE

IE

FR

FI

CY

NO

UK

PL

NL

LV

BG

EU -27(²)

SE

EL

CH

DK

HR(³)

LU

EE(³)

IS

TR

DE

RO

SI

SK

PT

CZ

AT

HU

IT

MT(³)

MK(³)

0

20

40

60

80

%

High - tech sectors

All sectors

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2008 (LU and MK).
(2) Eurostat estimate.
(3) Data lack reliability due to small sample size but are publishable.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: htec_emp_nisced2) 

High-tech sectors = High-tech manufacturing and high-tech KIS 

136

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
High Technology

7

Figure 7.17: Share of technicians and professionals in all 
sectors and in high-tech sectors by NACE Rev.2, EU-27 and 
selected countries, 2009 (1)

SE

NO

FR

ES

DK

LV

IS

HR

FI

LT

IT

CZ

NL

DE

AT

SI

EU -27(²)

CH

SK

BE

PL

CY

PT

LU

EL

BG

EE

RO

UK

MT

HU

IE

TR

MK

0

20

40

60

80

%

High - tech sectors

All sectors

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2008 (LU and MK).
(2) Eurostat estimate.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: htec_emp_nisco2) 

High-tech sectors= High-tech manufacturing and high-tech KIS.

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

137

7 High Technology

Figure 7.18: Regional disparities in employment in high-
tech sectors as a percentage of total employment (NUTS 2 
level), 2009(1)

BE

BG(²)

Prov. West -Vlaanderen

Prov. Brabant Wallon

Yugoiztochen

Yugozapaden

CZ

Severozapad

Praha

DK

Syddanmark

Hovedstaden

DE

EE

IE

Sachsen- Anhalt

Oberbayern

Border, Midland and Western

Southern and Eastern

EL(²)

Kriti

Attiki

Comunidad Foral de Navarra

Champagne - Ardenne

Calabria

Comunidad de Madrid

Île de France
-

-

Lazio

ES

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

HU

Dél- Alföld

Kozep - Magyarorszag

MT

NL(²)

Friesland

Utrecht

AT(²)

Oberösterreich

Wien

PL(²)

PT

RO(²)

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

HR(²)

TR

IS

Lubelskie, Swietokrzyskie

Mazowieckie

Centro (P)

Lisboa

Sud- Muntenia

Bucuresti - Ilfov

Vzhodna Slovenija

Vychodné Slovensko

Itä-Suomi

Småland med öarna

Zahodna Slovenija

Bratislavsky kraj

Etelä-Suomi

Stockholm

West Wales and The Valleys

Berks. Buckinghams. & Oxfordshire

Jadranska Hrvatska

Sjeverozapadna Hrvatska

Trabzon

Ankara

NO(²)

Vestlandet

Oslo og Akershus

CH

0

Région lémanique

(cid:49)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:71)(cid:90)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:86)(cid:70)(cid:75)(cid:90)(cid:72)(cid:76)(cid:93)

3

6

9

12   %

(1) Exceptions to the reference year: 2008 (LU). 
(2) Data lack reliability due to small sample size but are publishable.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: htec_emp_reg2) 

High-tech sectors = high-technology manufacturing plus high-tech KIS. 
Due to small sample size, data for the 55 regions cannot be published. 

138

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

 
 
 
 
Methodological notes

Methodological notes

Methodological notes 

GBAORD

1. Concepts and Definition

Government  budget  appropriations  or  outlays  on  R&D 
(GBAORD)  are  all  the  funds  allocated  to  R&D  in  central 
government  or  federal  budgets  and  therefore  refer  to  budget 
provisions,  not  to  actual  expenditure.  Provincial  or  state 
governments  should  be  included  where  the  contribution 
is  significant.  Unless  otherwise  stated,  the  data  include 
both  current  and  capital  expenditure  and  cover  not  only 
government-financed  R&D  performed 
in  government 
establishments,  but  also  government-financed  R&D  in  the 
business  enterprise,  private  non-profit  and  higher  education 
sectors,  as  well  as  abroad  (Frascati  Manual,  §  496).  Data  on 
actual R&D expenditure are not available in their final form 
until  some  time  after  the  end  of  the  budget  year  concerned, 
and may well differ from the original budget provisions. This 
and further methodological information can be found in the 
Frascati Manual (OECD, 2002).

GBAORD  data  are  assembled  by  national  authorities  from 
data  on  public  budgets.  These  measure  government  support 
for  R&D  activities,  or,  in  other  words,  how  much  priority 
governments give to the public funding of R&D.

Eurostat collects aggregated data which are then checked and 
processed, and compared with other data sources such as the 
OECD.  Then,  all  the  necessary  aggregates  are  calculated  (or 
estimated).

2. Sources

The  basic  data  are  forwarded  to  Eurostat  by  the  national 
administrations of Member States and other countries. Data 
for South Korea, Japan and the United States are taken from 
the OECD’s Main Science and Technology Indicators (MSTI).

3. Data compilation

Until  2003,  data  on  GBAORD  were  collected  under  a 
gentlemen’s agreement. From the reference year 2004 on, data 
collection  has  been  based  on  Commission  Regulation  No 
753/2004  on  statistics  on  science  and  technology  (OJ  L  118, 
23.4.2004, p. 23).

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

143

Methodological notes

4. Breakdown by socio-economic objectives

Government  R&D  appropriations  or  outlays  on  R&D  are 
broken  down  by  socio-economic  objectives  on  the  basis  of 
the NABS — Nomenclature for the analysis and comparison of 
scientific programmes and budgets. 

NABS 2007

The latest version of the nomenclature (NABS 2007) has been 
applicable  since  reference  year  2007.  Before  that  its  earlier 
version (NABS 1992) was used. 

Not  all  countries  collect  the  data  directly  by  NABS.  Some 
follow other compatible classifications (e.g. OECD, Nordforsk), 
which are then converted to the NABS classification (see Table 
8.2 of the Frascati Manual).

5. Time series

The analysis in the present publication covers the period 2005 
to 2009.

R&D expenditure and personnel

1. Concepts and definitions

The  basic  concepts,  guidelines  for  collecting  data  and 
classifications  used  in  compiling  statistics  on  research  and 
experimental  development  are  given  in  the  Frascati  Manual 
(OECD,  2002).  Specific  details  on  R&D  expenditure  and 
personnel are given in chapters 6 and 5 respectively. Regional 
data  are  collected  according  to  the  standards  defined  by  the 
Regional Manual, Eurostat, 1996. 

Research  and  experimental  development  (R&D)  activities 
comprise  creative  work  undertaken  on  a  systematic  basis  in 
order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge 
of  man,  culture  and  society,  and  the  use  of  this  stock  of 
knowledge  to  devise  new  applications.  There  are  two  basic 
statistical variables in this domain, namely R&D expenditure 
and personnel.

R&D expenditure

Intramural  expenditures  are  all  expenditures  on  R&D 
performed  within  a  statistical  unit  or  sector  of  the  economy 
during a specific period, whatever the source of funds (Frascati 
Manual, § 358).

144

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

Methodological notes 

R&D intensity

R&D intensity is R&D expenditure expressed as a percentage 
of GDP.

To calculate R&D intensity at national level (EEA countries), 
GDP from the national accounts is used as reference data. At 
regional level, GDP data are taken from the regional accounts. 
Both  data  series  were  extracted  from  Eurostat’s  reference 
database.

Purchasing power standard (PPS)

The  Purchasing  power  standard,  abbreviated  as  PPS,  is  an 
artificial  currency  unit.  PPS  is  the  technical  term  chosen 
by  Eurostat  for  the  common  currency  in  which  National 
Accounts aggregates are expressed when they are adjusted for 
price level differences using purchasing power parities (PPPs). 
PPPs can therefore be interpreted as the exchange rate of the 
PPS against the euro.

One  PPS  can  buy  the  same  amount  of  goods  and  services 
in  each  country,  whereas,  due  to  different  price  levels  in 
individual countries, different numbers of  national currency 
units  are  needed  to  buy  the  same  goods  and  services.  An 
economic aggregate of a given country, expressed in national 
currency, should be divided by the relevant Purchasing power 
parity  (PPP)  to  obtain  an  internationally  comparable  figure 
expressed in PPS. 

Purchasing power standard at constant year 2000 prices 

The  Purchasing  power  standard  at  constant  2000  prices  is 
based on the GDP price deflator with base year 2000 and the 
PPPs  for  2000.  The  reason  for  calculating  this  measure  is  to 
produce figures that are adjusted for price differences between 
countries  and  over  time.  Readers  should,  however,  be  aware 
that this unit is based on the relation of price levels for a fixed 
base year. Therefore the further away from the base year the 
comparison  is  made,  the  less  accurate  the  price  adjustment 
for  the  various  countries  becomes.  For  a  price-adjusted 
comparison between countries for any given year the simple 
PPS is a more accurate measure.

R&D personnel

Data on R&D personnel measure the resources going directly 
to R&D activities. Total R&D personnel is defined as follows:

‘All  persons  employed  directly  on  R&D  should  be 

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Methodological notes

counted, as well as those providing direct services such as 
R&D  managers,  administrators  and  clerical  staff.  Those 
providing  indirect  services,  such  as  canteen  and  security 
staff, should be excluded’ (Frascati Manual, § 294-296).

Full-time equivalent (FTE)

A  full-time  equivalent  corresponds  to  one  year’s  work  by  one 
person. Consequently, someone who normally spends 40 % of his 
or her time on R&D and the rest on other activities (e.g. teaching, 
university administration or counselling) should be counted as 
only 0.4 FTE.

Personnel in head count (HC)

Head count corresponds to the number of individuals who are 
employed  mainly  or  partly  on  R&D.  For  comparison  between 
different  regions  and  periods,  this  indicator  is  often  used  in 
conjunction with employment or population variables.

2. Institutional classification

Intramural  expenditure  and  R&D  personnel  are  broken  down 
by  institutional  sector,  i.e.  the  sector  in  which  the  R&D  is 
performed. There are four main sectors:

- 

- 

- 

- 

the business enterprise sector (BES); 

the government sector (GOV); 

the higher education sector (HES); 

the private non-profit sector (PNP).

3. Sources

The  basic  data  are  forwarded  to  Eurostat  by  the  national 
administrations of Member States and other countries. Data for 
South Korea, China, Japan and the United States are taken from 
the OECD’s Main Science and Technology Indicators (MSTI).

4. Data compilation

Until  2003,  data  on  R&D  were  collected  under  a  gentlemen’s 
agreement. From the reference year 2003 on, data collection has 
been based on Commission Regulation No 753/2004 on statistics 
on science and technology (OJ L 118, 23.4.2004, p. 23).

5. Geographical coverage

These  data  are  available  for  EU-27  Member  States,  Croatia, 
Turkey,  Iceland,  Norway,  Switzerland,  China,  South  Korea, 
Russia,  Japan,  and  the  United  States  at  national  level  and  for 
European countries at regional level (NUTS level 2).

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Methodological notes 

6. Aggregates

For  both  R&D  expenditure  and  personnel,  EU  totals  are 
calculated  as  the  sum  of  the  national  data  by  sector.  If  data 
are missing, estimates are made for the country in question, 
reference  period,  institutional  sector  or  R&D  variable,  as 
appropriate.  The  method  for  calculating  R&D  personnel  in 
head count (HC) is somewhat different. The estimates for R&D 
personnel  in  full-time  equivalents  (FTE)  serve  as  a  basis  for 
the HC calculation. An FTE/HC ratio based on available FTE 
and  HC  personnel  data  at  national  level  is  estimated  for  the 
EU aggregates, by institutional sector and by year. This ratio is 
then applied to the FTE data to calculate the EU totals in HC. 
EU aggregates are estimated values.

7. Time series

Data  are  for  the  period  2002-2008.  Data  series  in  Eurostat’s 
reference  database  are  available  from  1981  onwards,  though 
availability differs depending on the variables and institutional 
sectors. Not all years are complete. For that reason the figures 
for the latest year available for each country are analysed.

Additional  information  on  the  method  can  be  found  in 
Eurostat’s reference database.

Human resources in science and technology

1. Concepts and definitions

Statistics  on  human  resources  in  science  and  technology  — 
HRST — can improve our understanding of both demand and 
supply  for  highly  qualified  personnel.  The  data  presented  in 
this publication focus on two main aspects: stocks and flows. 
The  former  serves  to  show  the  needs  for,  and  the  current 
situation  of  the  highly  skilled  labour  force,  and  the  latter 
indicates to what degree this demand is likely to be met in the 
future. 

Human  resources  in  science  and  technology  are  defined 
according to the OECD Canberra Manual as persons fulfilling 
at least one of the following conditions:

•	

successfully	completed	education	at	the	third	level	
in  an  S&T  field  of  study  (ISCED  ’97  version  levels 
5a, 5b or 6); 

OR/AND

•	

not	formally	qualified	as	above	but	employed	in	an	

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Methodological notes

S&T occupation where the above qualifications are 
normally required (ISCO ’88 COM codes 2 or 3).

The  above  educational  or  occupational  requirements  are 
internationally  harmonised 
considered  by  reference 
standards:

to 

•	

•	

the	
International	 Standard	 Classification	 of	
Education  —  ISCED  —  giving  the  level  of  formal 
education achievement;

the	
International	 Standard	 Classification	 of	
Occupation  —  ISCO  —  detailing  the  type  of 
occupation.

According  to  the  OECD  Canberra  Manual,  the  seven  broad 
S&T  fields  of  study  are:  Natural  Sciences,  Engineering  and 
Technology,  Medical  Sciences,  Agricultural  Sciences,  Social 
Sciences,  Humanities,  and  Other  fields  (Canberra  Manual,  
§ 71).

further 

information,  see  also  Eurostat’s  reference 
For 
database (http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu) under Science and 
Technology/Human Resources in Science & Technology.

Stocks and inflows

HRST stocks provide information on the number of HRST at 
a particular point in time. Stock data relate to the employment 
status as well as the occupational and educational profiles of 
individuals in the given year.

HRST  stock  data  and  their  derived  indicators  are  extracted 
and built up using data from the EU Labour Force Survey — 
EU-LFS. The EU-LFS is based on a sample of the population. 
All  results  conform  to  Eurostat  guidelines  on  sample-size 
limitations  and  are  therefore  not  published,  if  the  degree  of 
sampling error is likely to be high, and flagged as unreliable, if 
the degree of reliability is too small. 

The population covered excludes anyone below the age of 15 
or over the age of 74. This is because no-one below the age of 
15 will fulfil either of the requirements for being classified as 
HRST and also for data quality reasons. 

The main categories of HRST are as follows:

HRST — Human Resources in Science and Technology

•	

•	

successfully	completed	education	at	the	third	level	
in  an  S&T  field  of  study  (ISCED  ’97  version  levels 
5a, 5b or 6); or 
not	formally	qualified	as	above	but	employed	in	an	

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Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

Methodological notes 

S&T occupation where the above qualifications are 
normally required (ISCO ’88 COM codes 2 or 3). 

HRSTO — Human Resources in Science and Technology — 

Occupation

•	

employed	 in	 an	 S&T	 occupation	 (ISCO	 ’88	 COM	
codes 2 or 3). 

HRSTE  —  Human  Resources  in  Science  and  Technology  —     

Education

•	

successfully	 completed	 education	 at	 the	 third	 level	
in an S&T field of study (ISCED ’97 version levels 5a, 
5b or 6).

HRSTC — Human Resources in Science and Technology — 

Core

•	

•	

successfully	 completed	 education	 at	 the	 third	 level	
in an S&T field of study (ISCED ’97 version levels 5a, 
5b or 6); and

employed	 in	 an	 S&T	 occupation	 (ISCO	 ’88	 COM	
codes 2 or 3). 

SE — Scientists and Engineers

•	

in	

‘Physical,	 mathematical	

and	 
employed	
engineering’  occupations  or  in  ‘Life  science  and 
health  occupations’  (ISCO  ’88  COM  codes  21  and 
22).

HRSTU — Human Resources in Science and Technology — 

Unemployed

•	

successfully	 completed	 education	 at	 the	 third	 level	
in an S&T field of study (ISCED ’97 version levels 5a, 
5b or 6) and are unemployed.

NHRSTU — Unemployed non-HRST

•	

no	 education	 at	 the	 third	 level	 in	 an	 S&T	 field	 of	
study and unemployed.

HRST inflows are the number of people who do not fulfil any 
of the conditions for inclusion in HRST at the beginning of a 
time period but acquire at least one of them during the period. 
Graduates from a country’s higher education system represent 
the main inflow into the national stock of HRST. 

HRST education inflow data are extracted from the Eurostat 
Education database, built on data from the UNESCO/OECD/
Eurostat  questionnaire  on  education,  based  on  the  ISCED 
classification.  Users  should  note  that  European  education 

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149

Methodological notes

systems differ and that duplications of degrees might exist for 
some countries.

This  publication  includes  the  following  totals  and  sub-totals 
(ISCED 1997 version):

Total: Sum of all fields of study 

Science and Engineering (S&E): 

Science covers the educational fields of Life sciences, Physical 
sciences,  Mathematics  and  statistics,  Computing  (codes  42, 
44, 46, 48). 

Engineering  groups  the  fields  of  education  in  Engineering 
and  engineering  trades,  Manufacturing  and  processing, 
Architecture and building (codes 52, 54, 58).

2. Sources

The data on stocks and job-to-job mobility are obtained from 
the  the  EU  Labour  Force  Survey  —  EU-LFS.  The  National 
Statistical Institutes are responsible for conducting the surveys 
and forwarding the results to Eurostat.

The  data  on  education  inflows  are  obtained  from  Eurostat’s 
Education  database  and  in  turn  via  the  UNESCO/OECD/
Eurostat questionnaire on education. The National Statistical 
Institutes  are  responsible 
the  surveys, 
compiling the results and forwarding the results to Eurostat.

for  conducting 

3. Geographical coverage 
Geographical  coverage  depends  on  data  source.  For  HRST 
stocks  these  data  are  available  for  EU-27  Member  States, 
Candidate countries and EFTA countries. HRST inflows from 
education  are  available  for  EU-27  Member  States,  Candidate 
countries, EFTA countries, United States and Japan.

Innovation 

1. Concepts and definitions

1.1 Community Innovation Survey
At European level, the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) 
is a survey of innovation activity in enterprises covering EU 
Member  States,  Candidate  countries,  Iceland  and  Norway. 
CIS  data  are  the  main  source  of  information  for  studying 
innovation drivers and corporate innovation behaviour.

The  data  are  collected  on  a  two-yearly  basis  (from  2004 
onwards).  The  last  survey,  CIS  2008,  was  carried  out  in  27 

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Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

Methodological notes 

Member  States,  Candidate  countries,  Norway  and  Iceland  It 
was  launched  in  2009,  based  on  the  reference  period  2008, 
with the observation period 2006 to 2008. It introduced a new 
definition of innovation, adding organisational and marketing 
innovation to products and processes.

In  the  interests  of  comparability,  Eurostat  developed  the 
harmonised  survey  questionnaire  in  close  cooperation  with 
the participating countries, accompanied by a set of definitions 
and methodological recommendations.

The changes to the CIS 2008 questionnaire were made in the 
light  of  the  third  revision  of  the  Oslo  Manual,  2005  edition, 
which gives methodological guidelines and defines the concept 
of innovation, and of Commission Regulation No 1450/2004.

1.2 Oslo Manual 2005
Innovation: an innovation is the implementation of a new or 
significantly improved product (good or service), or process, 
a  new  marketing  method,  or  a  new  organisational  method 
in  business  practices,  workplace  organisation  or  external 
relations.

Innovations  are  based  on  the  results  of  new  technological 
developments,  new  combinations  of  existing  technology  or 
the utilisation of other knowledge acquired by the enterprise. 
Innovations  may  be  developed  by  the  innovating  enterprise 
or by another enterprise. However, purely selling innovations 
wholly  produced  and  developed  by  other  enterprises  is  not 
included as an innovation activity. Innovations should be new 
to the enterprise concerned. For product innovations, they do 
not necessarily have to be new to the market, and for process 
innovations the enterprise does not necessarily have to be the 
first to have introduced the process.

There  are  four  types  of  innovations:  product  innovations, 
process innovations, marketing innovations and organisational 
innovations. This classification preserves as much continuity 
as  possible  with  the  previous  definition  of  technological 
product  and  process  innovation  used  in  the  second  edition 
of the Manual. Product innovations and process innovations 
are  closely  related  to  the  concept  of  technological  product 
innovation and technological process innovation. Marketing 
innovations and organisational innovations broaden the range 
compared to the previous definition.

A  product  innovation  is  the  introduction  of  a  good  or 
service  that  is  new  or  significantly  improved  with  respect  to 
its  characteristics  or  intended  uses.  This  includes  significant 

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Methodological notes

improvements  in  technical  specifications,  components  and 
materials,  incorporated  software,  user-friendliness  or  other 
functional characteristics.

A  process  innovation  is  the  implementation  of  a  new  or 
significantly  improved  production  or  delivery  method.  This 
includes  significant  changes  in  techniques,  equipment  and/
or software. Process innovations can be intended to decrease 
unit costs of production or delivery, to increase quality, or to 
produce or deliver new or significantly improved products.

An organisational innovation is a new organisational method 
in  the  enterprise’s  business  practices  (including  knowledge 
management),  workplace  organisation  or  external  relations 
that  has  not  been  previously  used  by  the  enterprise.  It  must 
be  the  result  of  strategic  decisions  taken  by  management;  it 
excludes mergers or acquisitions, even if for the first time.

A  marketing  innovation  is  the  implementation  of  a  new 
marketing  method  involving  significant  changes  in  product 
design  or  packaging,  product  placement,  product  promotion 
or  pricing.  Marketing  innovations  are  aimed  at  addressing 
customer  needs  better,  opening  up  new  markets,  or  newly 
positioning a firm’s product on the market, with the objective 
of increasing the firm’s sales. It excludes seasonal, regular and 
other routine changes in marketing methods.

2. Statistical units

The main statistical unit for CIS 2008 was the enterprise. 

The  CIS  2008  target  population  was  the  total  population  of 
enterprises  (with  10  or  more  employees)  engaged  primarily 
in  the  following  economic  activities:  mining  and  quarrying 
(NACE 05-09), manufacturing (NACE 10-33), electricity, gas, 
steam and air conditioning supply (NACE 35), water supply; 
sewerage,  waste  management  and  remediation  activities 
(NACE 36-39), wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and 
motorcycles  (NACE  46),  transportation  and  storage  (NACE 
49-53), publishing activities (NACE 58), telecommunications 
(NACE 61), computer programming, consultancy and related 
activities  (NACE  62),  information  services  activities  (NACE 
63),  financial  and  insurance  activities  (NACE  64-66),  and 
architectural and engineering activities; technical testing and 
analysis (NACE 71).

NACE Rev. 2 sections B, C, D, E, H and K, and in the NACE 
Rev. 2 divisions 46, 58, 61, 62, 63 and 71 constitutes the core 
NACE population of the CIS 2008. NACE Rev. 2 sections A, F, 

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Methodological notes 

I, L and N and NACE divisions 45, 47, 59-60, 69-70, 72-75 are 
part of the non-core population.

3. Type of Survey

Most of the countries used a stratified sample survey for their 
CIS 2008, while a number used a census or a combination of 
the two.

The economic activities covered by this publication are based 
on the NACE Rev. 1.1 classification. The three sectors used in 
the publication are:

•	

all	 NACE	 -	 Core	 NACE	 activities	 related	 to	
innovation  activities  (B,  C,  D,  E,  G46,  H,  J58,  J61, 
J62, J63, K and M71); 

•	 Manufacturing	which	means	NACE	C;

•	

Core	 Services	 —	 NACE	 sections	 H	 and	 K,	 and	
NACE divisions 46, 58, 61, 62, 63 and 71

The  CIS  2008  data  are  organised  in  the  Eurostat  reference 
database  according  to  broadly  the  same  structure  as  the 
questionnaire.

4. Reference period

CIS 2008 covered the observation period 2006-2008 inclusive, 
i.e. the three-year period from the beginning of 2006 to the end 
of  2008. The reference period for CIS 2008 was the calendar 
year 2008.

All  the  countries  covered  collected  data  for  this  observation 
period.

Patents 

1. Concepts and definitions

A patent is a legal title granting its holder the exclusive right 
to make use of an invention for a limited area and time. An 
invention needs to fulfil three criteria to be granted a patent: 
(1) novelty, (2) inventive step, and (3) industrial applicability. 
All  patent  applications  and  granted  patents  are  published. 
They  provide  a  useful  indicator  of  innovative  developments 
in  all  areas  of  technology,  and  they  can  indicate  the  level  of 
innovative activity in a particular market, region or country.

2. Sources

Following  changes  in  the  production  of  patent  statistics  at 
Eurostat in 2007, data shown on the Eurostat webpage are no 

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

153

Methodological notes

longer  fully  comparable  with  data  previously  disseminated. 
From 2007 onwards Eurostat’s production of EPO and USPTO 
data has been based almost exclusively on the EPO Worldwide 
Statistical  Patent  Database.  This  database,  also  known  as 
‘PATSTAT’,  was  developed  by  the  EPO  in  2005,  using  their 
collection and knowledge of patent data.

EPO patent applications by priority year

The  new  methodology  for  EPO  data  used  for  calculating 
indicators  is  very  similar  to  the  OECD  methodology.  For 
patent  applications  to  the  EPO  all  direct  applications  (EPO-
direct) are taken into account, but among the PCT applications 
(applications following the procedure laid down by the Patent 
Cooperation Treaty — PCT) made to the EPO only those that 
have  entered  into  the  regional  phase  are  counted.  As  PCT 
patent  applications  in  the  international  phase  designating 
the  EPO  will  no  longer  be  included  in  the  calculation  of 
patent  applications  to  the  EPO,  the  data  shown  are  lower. 
Nevertheless, patent data produced by Eurostat and the OECD 
may  still  not  be  exactly  the  same.  Any  differences  may  be 
explained by the fact that the data sources used and the date of 
extraction of the data could differ.

USPTO patents granted by priority year

Eurostat uses the same methodology as the OECD for patents 
granted by the USPTO. Any differences may be explained by 
the fact that the data sources are not exactly the same and by 
the date of data extraction.

Triadic patent families by earliest priority year

A patent family is a set of patents taken in various countries 
for  protecting  the  same  invention,  i.e.  related  patents  are 
grouped  into  a  single  record  to  derive  a  unique  patent 
family.  A  patent  is  a  member  of  a  triadic  patent  family 
only  if  it  has  been  applied  for  and  filed  at  the  European  
Patent  Office  (EPO)  and  the  Japanese  Patent  Office  (JPO) 
and  if  it  has  been  granted  by  the  United  States  Patent  and 
Trademark  Office  (USPTO).  Patent  families,  as  opposed  to 
patents, are intended to improve international comparability 
(the  home  advantage  is  eliminated;  the  values  of  the  patents 
are more homogeneous).

Data on triadic patent families are presented by priority year, 
i.e.  the  year  of  the  first  international  filing  of  a  patent.  This 
exacerbates the disadvantage of traditional patent counts with 
respect to timeliness, and so the latest available data refer to 

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Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

Methodological notes 

2005 only (2002 to 2005 being provisional data).

3. Reference year (or date)

All patent statistics from Eurostat are shown by priority date, 
i.e. the first date of filing of the patent application anywhere 
in the world. This date is the earliest and is chosen so as to be 
the  closest  to  the  date  of  the  invention  as  patent  procedures 
always  take  several  years.  The  drawback  is  that  the  data  on 
USPTO patents granted have declined in recent years, due to 
administrative delays between the priority date and the grant 
date. To a lesser extent this is also the case for the EPO data.

4.  Counting  patents  with  multiple  inventors  from 
different countries

Eurostat  has  chosen  fractional  counting  as  the  counting 
method. This means that when a patent was invented by several 
inventors from different countries, the respective contributions 
of each country are taken into account. This is done in order 
to eliminate multiple counting of such patents. For example, 
a  patent  co-invented  by  one  French,  one  American  and  two 
German residents will be counted as ¼ of a patent for France, 
¼ for the US and ½ a patent for Germany.

5.  Counting  patents  in  the  event  of  multiple  IPC 
codes

Patent  data  take  into  account  all  levels  of  the  International 
Patent Classification (IPC). If a patent is assigned to more than 
one IPC code, not only the main (first) IPC code is taken into 
account,  but  all  of  them.  The  application  is  divided  equally 
among  all  IPC  codes  (fractional  counting),  thus  avoiding 
double  counting.  Only  after  the  fractional  counting  are  the 
IPC codes rounded at class level.

6. International patent classification

On  1  January  2006  the  eighth  edition  of  the  International 
Patent  Classification  (IPC)  entered  into  force.  The  World 
Intellectual  Property  Organisation  (WIPO),  a  specialised 
agency of the United Nations, is responsible for updating the 
IPC,  which  is  a  comprehensive  subject  classification  system 
applied  to  all  patents  by  the  patent-issuing  authorities.  The 
IPC  is  a  hierarchical  system  divided  into  sections,  classes, 
subclasses  and  groups.  Each  IPC  code  is  a  combination  of 
letters and numbers referring to the different categories of the 
system. A patent can have a single IPC code or more than one.

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155

Methodological notes

Biotechnology sector 
The OECD defines biotechnology as: ‘the application of science 
and technology to living organisms, as well as parts, products 
and models thereof, to alter living or non-living materials for 
the production of knowledge, goods and services’. The choice 
of the IPC subclasses used for this sector is based on the OECD 
definition.

High-technology 
International Patent Classification (IPC)

groups 

in 

accordance  with 

the 

Aviation
Computer and automated business equipment
Communication technology
Lasers

AVI  
CAB  
CTE  
LSR  
MGE   Micro-organism and genetic engineering
SMC  

Semi-conductors

Nanotechnology

In  contrast  to  the  data  for  the  other  technological  fields 
shown  above,  nanotechnology  patent  applications  are  not 
directly  based  on  an  aggregation  of  patent  applications  with 
the  same  IPC  codes.  The  EPO  introduced  ‘Y01N’  tags  to 
label  nanotechnology  in  their  databases  because,  given  the 
interdisciplinary  nature  of  the  field,  it  was  too  difficult  to 
retrieve these specific patent data from the available databases. 
The  Y01N  code  is  not  static,  but  is  constantly  updated  and 
improved as new aspects of this young technology emerge.

Co-patenting

Data on co-patenting for patent applications to the EPO and 
patents granted by the USPTO are available at national level 
according  to  the  inventor’s  and  the  applicant’s  country  of 
residence as follows:

- 
- 
- 

- 

- 

total patents in the declaring country 
Single inventors/applicants
co-patents  involving  inventors/applicants  from  the 
declaring country
co-patents  involving  inventors/applicants  from  the 
declaring  country  and  one  or  more  EU  Member 
States
co-patents  involving  inventors/applicants  from  the 
declaring country, one or more EU Member States 
and one or more non- EU countries

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Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

Methodological notes 

- 

involving 

co-patents 
from 
the  declaring  country  and  one  or  more  non-EU 
countries

inventors/applicants 

Patent citations

Total  number  of  publications  cited  in  patents:  the  number  of 
patent publications cited in patents to the EPO.

EU Patents: patent applications to the EPO that have only EU 
inventors (applicants).

Number  of  citations  referring  to  non-EU  patent  publications: 
Citations  in  the  patent  applications  to  the  EPO  that  have 
only  EU  inventors  (applicants),  and  of  those  citations  the 
corresponding  patent  publications.  Cited  patent  publications 
are divided into those with at least one EU inventor (applicant) 
and those with only non-EU inventors (applicants).

High-technology

1. Concepts and definitions

High-tech  statistics  comprise  economic,  employment  and 
‘Science,  technology  and  innovation’  (STI)  data  describing 
manufacturing  and  services  industries,  broken  down  by 
technological intensity. 

Two  main  approaches  are  used  to  identify  technology-
intensity: sectoral and product.

The sectoral approach

This is an aggregation of manufacturing industries according 
to technological intensity (R&D expenditure/value added) and 
based on the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities 
in the European Community (NACE) at 3-digit level.

The sectoral approach covers the manufacturing sector and the 
service sector. This publication uses the following breakdowns 
under the sectoral approach:

High-tech manufacturing

High-tech  manufacturing  aggregate  comprises  the  following 
NACE Rev.1.1 codes: 24.4, 30, 32, 33, 35.3.

High-tech  manufacturing  aggregate  comprises  the  following 
NACE Rev. 2 codes: 21, 26, 30.3.

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

157

Methodological notes

High-tech Knowledge Intensive Services

High-tech Knowledge Intensive Services aggregate comprises 
the following NACE Rev. 1.1 codes: 64, 72, 73.

High-tech Knowledge Intensive Services aggregate comprises 
the following NACE Rev. 2 codes: 59 to 63 and 72.

Total High-tech sector is the sum of High-tech manufacturing 
and High-tech Knowledge Intensive Services.

The product approach

This  was  devised  to  complement  the  sectoral  approach.  It 
opens the way to a far more detailed analysis of trade. 

High-technology  product  groups  are  defined  according  to 
their R&D intensity, using concepts developed by the OECD 
— R&D expenditure/total sales covering six countries. These 
can  be  classified  in  nine  groups:  Aerospace,  Computers-
Office machines, Electronics-Telecommunications, Pharmacy, 
Scientific instruments, Electrical machinery, Chemistry, Non-
electrical machinery, and Armament. The groups classified as 
high-technology  products  are  aggregated  on  the  basis  of  the 
Standard International Trade Classification (SITC).

For  all  further  details  please  see  also  the  Eurostat  metadata 
on high-technology statistics on Eurostat’s reference webpage.

Venture capital investments

Data are broken down into three investment stages: 

- early stage (seed + start-up); and 

- expansion and replacement (expansion and replacement 

capital).

-Buyout data are also considered in parallel with these two 
stages  and  include  management  buyout,  management 
buy-in, leverage buyout and venture purchase of quoted 
shares.

The basic data are provided by the European Private Equity and 
Venture  Capital  Association  (EVCA).  For  more  information 
on venture capital, please refer to: http://www.evca.eu

High-tech economic statistics 
Data on high-tech enterprises are extracted and built up using 
data  from  the  Structural  Business  Statistics  —  SBS.  In  this 
publication  the  SBS  data  are  presented  for  the  last  available 
year by NACE Rev.1.1.

158

Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

Methodological notes 

Number of enterprises includes all units active during at least 
a part of the reference period.

Turnover  comprises  the  totals  invoiced  by  the  observation 
unit  during  the  reference  period,  and  this  corresponds  to 
market sales of goods or services supplied to third parties.

Value added at factor cost is the gross income from operating 
activities after adjusting for operating subsidies and indirect 
taxes.

Production value measures the amount actually produced by 
the unit, based on sales, including changes in stocks and the 
resale of goods and services.

For  all  further  details  please  see  also  the  Eurostat  metadata 
on high-technology statistics on Eurostat’s reference webpage.

2. Data sources

The domain uses various other domains and sources, mainly 
from within Eurostat’s official statistics.

Data on high-tech economic statistics and derived indicators 
are  extracted  and  built  up  using  data  from  the  Structural 
Business Statistics — SBS. In this publication the SBS data are 
presented for the last available year by NACE Rev.1.1. 

Data  on  high-tech  employment  make  use  of  EU-LFS  data. 
High-tech  trade  data  are  extracted  from  the  COMEXT 
database  —  Eurostat’s  database  of  official  statistics  on  EU 
external  trade  and  trade  between  EU  Member  States.  Trade 
data  reported  by  other  countries  are  extracted  from  the  UN 
Statistical  Office’s  COMTRADE  database  and  included  in 
the  COMEXT  database  as  a  separate  dataset.  The  high-tech 
products group in this publication accord with SITC Rev.4.

For more details, please refer to methodologies of the specific 
data sources.

For Venture Capital Investment the basic data are provided by 
the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association 
(EVCA). For more information on venture capital, please refer 
to: http://www.evca.eu

 Science, technology and innovation in Europe 

159

European Commission

Science, technology and innovation in Europe

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union

2011 — 159 pp. — 10.5 x 21 cm

Theme: Science and technology
Collection: Pocketbooks

ISBN 978-92-79-19843-4 
ISNN 1830-754x
doi:10.2785/12854 
Cat. No KS-31-11-118-EN-C

 
ISSN 1830-754X 

Pocketbooks

Science, technology 

and innovation in Europe

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Science, technology 
and innovation in Europe 
2011 edition

This pocketbook gives an overview of science, 
technology and innovation (STI) statistics. Only 
the most relevant indicators have been selected  
in order to provide an overall statistical picture  
of science, technology and innovation in Europe 
and a ranking of the EU in relation to its partners. 

This publication is a compendium of data 
available at Eurostat, but it is by no means 
exhaustive: it is a showcase for the main available 
data sets. 

The focus is on the EU-27 and the candidate 
countries. However, to allow international 
comparisons, data for Iceland, Liechtenstein, 
Norway, Switzerland, China, Japan, Russia  
and the United States are included when 
available. 

The pocketbook is divided into seven chapters, 
including: Government budget appropriations 
or outlays on R&D (GBAORD), R&D expenditure, 
R&D personnel and human resources in science 
and technology (HRST), statistics on innovation, 
patents and high-technology. 

 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat 

2011 edition

ISBN 978927919843-4

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