
Research and development spending by the largest 1,400 corporate R&D spenders worldwide increased by more than 4 percent to €465 billion ($US 630 billion) in 2010, reversing a nearly 2 percent decline in 2009. The data are compiled in the European Commission’s EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, released today.
Pharmaceuticals/biotechnology, technology hardware, and automotive companies were the top three R&D industries, accounting for more than half of the total spending. Pharma/biotech R&D expenditures rose 6.2 percent in 2010; this sector was one of the few to record an increase ( 5%) in 2009.
Technology hardware, with a gain of 3.5 percent in 2010 R&D funding, reversed a 6.4 percent reduction in 2009. R&D by automotive companies in 2010 stayed about the same as in 2009 (a decline of 0.2%), which still marks a substantial change from the nearly 12 percent drop the previous year.
Of the 1,400 top-ranked enterprises in R&D spending, U.S. companies represent the largest single country in terms of number of businesses represented (487) and proportion of total R&D spending (35.1%). EU countries has 400 companies with 29 percent of the total R&D spending, and Japan has 267 companies with 21.7 percent of the worldwide total R&D amount.
Switzerland, is not an EU member, and thus recorded separately from the EU totals. Companies in Switzerland, which is the headquarters of Roche, the largest corporate R&D spender and Novartis, ranked no. 8, account for 4.5 percent of the world’s corporate R&D expenditures.
Other major Asian countries — China, South Korea, and Taiwan — contribute 94 companies to the list, which represent 6.3 percent of the worldwide total corporate R&D in 2010. However, on a percentage basis, the amount of R&D spending in those countries rose substantially in 2010: 29.5, 20.5, and 17.8 percent respectively.
The top 10 companies in R&D spending in 2010 were …
- Roche (Switzerland)
- Pfizer (U.S.)
- Microsoft (U.S.)
- Toyota Motor (Japan)
- Merck US (U.S.)
- Volkswagen (Germany)
- Samsung Electronics (South Korea)
- Novartis (Switzerland)
- General Motors (U.S.)
- Johnson & Johnson (U.S.)
Read more: Worldwide Corporate R&D Drops, Pharma/Biotech Bucks Trend
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