R&D personnel by sector of performance - Regions by country

<p style="text-align: justify;">This table contains research and development (R&amp;D) personnel statistics in large (TL2) regions.&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Indicators covered</strong></p> <p>Number of R&amp;D personnel is provided in both headcounts and full-time equivalent on R&amp;D by...

Countries reporting
39
Highest
2.15 million Persons
United States
Lowest
294 Persons
Montenegro
Median
45,905 Persons
Years covered
30
1995–2024
Data points
982

What the numbers show

R&D personnel by sector of performance - Regions is currently reported for 39 countries. The highest value is 2.15 million Persons in United States; the lowest is 294 Persons in Montenegro.

The median across all reporting countries is 45,905 Persons, and the mean is 170,800 Persons.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 7,300.

Over the past decade 38 countries rose and 1 fell. The largest increase was in Poland, Republic of (up 360.5%), and the largest decrease in Russian Federation (down 12.3%).

R&D personnel by sector of performance - Regions: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 United States 2.15 million Persons 2022 up 46.1% rising
2 Japan 779,099 Persons 2023 up 17.0% rising
3 Germany 632,551 Persons 2023 up 54.8% rising
4 France 412,151 Persons 2023 up 20.5% rising
5 Russian Federation 379,442 Persons 2019 down 12.3% falling
6 United Kingdom 364,877 Persons 2018 up 132.8% rising
7 Italy 291,014 Persons 2023 up 70.1% volatile
8 Netherlands, The 197,370 Persons 2023 up 35.0% rising
9 Spain 182,136 Persons 2023 up 42.2% rising
10 Poland, Republic of 174,982 Persons 2023 up 360.5% volatile
11 Canada 143,650 Persons 2014 up 3.9% rising
12 Belgium 119,732 Persons 2023 up 137.1% rising
13 Sweden 104,487 Persons 2023 up 59.1% rising
14 Austria 87,308 Persons 2023 up 33.7% rising
15 Portugal 81,044 Persons 2023 up 143.8% volatile
16 Australia 70,467 Persons 2015 up 61.3% rising
17 Switzerland 68,990 Persons 2023 up 33.4% rising
18 Czech Republic 65,630 Persons 2024 up 36.2% rising
19 Denmark 52,819 Persons 2023 up 18.9% rising
20 Norway 45,905 Persons 2023 up 62.1% rising
21 Finland 45,837 Persons 2023 up 12.2% rising
22 Hungary 43,131 Persons 2023 up 67.1% volatile
23 Ireland 40,956 Persons 2023 up 65.2% volatile
24 Greece 34,873 Persons 2023 up 234.4% volatile
25 Bulgaria 16,135 Persons 2023 up 255.3% volatile
26 Slovenia, Republic of 15,143 Persons 2023 up 18.8% rising
27 Romania 14,395 Persons 2023 up 25.0% volatile
28 Croatia, Republic of 9,655 Persons 2023 up 221.0% volatile
29 Serbia, Republic of 8,827 Persons 2024 up 177.4% volatile
30 Lithuania, Republic of 8,009 Persons 2023 up 131.8% volatile
31 Estonia, Republic of 5,517 Persons 2023 up 99.4% rising
32 Chile 4,950 Persons 2016 up 34.9% rising
33 Luxembourg 3,685 Persons 2023 up 5.5% falling
34 Iceland 3,578 Persons 2023 up 67.6% rising
35 Latvia, Republic of 2,930 Persons 2023 up 62.6% rising
36 Malta 1,635 Persons 2023 up 59.8% volatile
37 Cyprus 1,166 Persons 2023 up 143.9% rising
38 North Macedonia, Republic of 507 Persons 2022 up 264.7% volatile
39 Montenegro 294 Persons 2019 up 50.0% rising

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

R&D personnel by sector of performance - Regions by country. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 18 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/r-and-d-personnel-by-sector-of-performance-regions/

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/stat/r-and-d-personnel-by-sector-of-performance-regions/">R&D personnel by sector of performance - Regions by country</a> β€” Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
R&D personnel by sector of performance - Regions
Unit
Persons
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
45 places, 982 data points, 1995–2024
Last refreshed

<p style="text-align: justify;">This table contains research and development (R&amp;D) personnel statistics in large (TL2) regions.&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Indicators covered</strong></p> <p>Number of R&amp;D personnel is provided in both headcounts and full-time equivalent on R&amp;D by sex, sector of&nbsp;performance (business enterprise, government, higher education, and private non-profit).&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Definition of regions</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Regions are subnational units below national boundaries. OECD countries have two regional levels: large regions (territorial level 2 or TL2) and small regions (territorial level 3 or TL3). TL3 regions are grouped into typologies based on shared characteristics. See the <a href="https://webfs-cfe.oecd.org/files/.Stat/region/OECD%20Territorial%20correspondence%20-%20TL2024c.xlsx">OECD Territorial Correspondence Table (xls)</a> and the <a href="https://webfs-cfe.oecd.org/files/.Stat/region/OECD_territorial-grid_TL2024.pdf">OECD Territorial grid (pdf)</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Cite this dataset</strong></p> <p>OECD Regions, Cities and Local Areas database <a href="http://oe.cd/geostats">http://oe.cd/geostats</a></p> <p><strong>Further information</strong></p> <ul> <li>Guidelines for Collecting and Reporting Data on Research and Experimental Development<a href="https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/frascati-manual-2015_9789264239012-en.html"> Frascati Manual 2015</a></li> <li>The interactive web-tool <a href="https://regions-cities-atlas.oecd.org/">OECD Regions and Cities Statistical Atlas</a>&nbsp;</li> <li>The report <a href="https://www.oecd.org/governance/oecd-regions-and-cities-at-a-glance-26173212.htm">OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance</a></li> </ul> <p>For any question or comment, please write to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:RegionStat@oecd.org">RegionStat@oecd.org</a></p>