Italy vs Spain: R&D personnel by sector of performance and function — R&D Personnel

Italy
518,829 Persons
in 2023
Spain
431,848 Persons
in 2023
Italy rank
5th
Spain rank
6th

R&D personnel by sector of performance and function — R&D Personnel over time

  • Italy
  • Spain
100.0k200.0k300.0k400.0k500.0k198520042023

How they compare

Italy currently reports 518,829 Persons against 431,848 Persons in Spain, a difference of 86,981 Persons.

That makes Italy's figure about 1.2 times Spain's.

The two have swapped places 4 times across 32 shared years of data; in 1988 it was Italy ahead.

Italy ranks 5th and Spain ranks 6th of 30 countries.

Italy has averaged higher in every one of the 5 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Italy Spain Difference Ahead
1980s 173,326 Persons 93,808 Persons 79,518 Persons Italy
1990s 186,057 Persons 132,194 Persons 53,863 Persons Italy
2000s 291,147 Persons 288,249 Persons 2,898 Persons Italy
2010s 418,140 Persons 350,452 Persons 67,688 Persons Italy
2020s 510,900 Persons 407,114 Persons 103,787 Persons Italy

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher r&d personnel by sector of performance and function — r&d personnel, Italy or Spain?
Italy, at 518,829 Persons against 431,848 Persons in Spain as of 2023.
What is the difference in r&d personnel by sector of performance and function — r&d personnel between Italy and Spain?
86,981 Persons, with Italy ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Italy and Spain?
32 years are reported by both, from 1988 to 2023.
How do Italy and Spain rank globally for r&d personnel by sector of performance and function — r&d personnel?
Italy ranks 5th and Spain ranks 6th of 30 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as R&D personnel by sector of performance and function — R&D Personnel (total economy). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Italy vs Spain: R&D personnel by sector of performance and function — R&D Personnel. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 11 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/r-and-d-personnel-by-sector-of-performance-and-function-r-and-d-personnel-total-economy/italy/spain/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/r-and-d-personnel-by-sector-of-performance-and-function-r-and-d-personnel-total-economy/italy/spain/">Italy vs Spain: R&D personnel by sector of performance and function — R&D Personnel</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
R&D personnel by sector of performance and function — R&D Personnel (total economy)
Unit
Persons
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
42 places, 1,049 data points, 1981–2024
Last refreshed

This table contains research and development (R&D) personnel statistics. Number of R&D personnel is provided in both headcounts and full-time equivalent on R&D by sex, sector of employment (business enterprise, government, higher education, and private non-profit) and by function (researchers, technicians and other support staff).