R&D investment 2023: Growth in EU companies outstriping that of their peers

"This year, EU-based companies have surpassed their global counterparts in R&D growth for the first time in over a decade, a testament to Europe's potential for innovation", writes Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Start-ups, Research and Innovation, on the results of the EU Scoreboard 2024 on industrial R&D investment for 2023, published on 18/12/2024.

"Nominal R&D investment by the 322 Scoreboard companies with headquarters in the EU grew by 9.8%, outpacing the 681 US companies (5.9%) for the second year in a row, and, for the first time, just ahead of the 524 Chinese companies (9.6%).

Companies with headquarters in Japan (185 companies) and the rest of the world (ROW, 253 companies) increased their R&D investment by 7.1% and 9.1% respectively", says the report.

"While this is encouraging news, we need to sustain this momentum to improve our position globally as we trail the US and are closely followed by China in terms of business R&D investment", adds the Commissioner.

The 800 EU-ranked companies are located in 19 member states and invested €247.7 Bn in R&D in 2023 (+7.74…