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The 2011 “EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard” presents economic and financial data of the world’s top 1400 companies ranked by their investments in research and development (R&D). The Scoreboard collects information on the top 1000 EU companies and 1000 non-EU companies investing the largest sums in R&D. Some key findings of 2010 are:
- Worldwide R&D investments of the top R&D investing companies increased by 4% in 2010, a robust up-turn after the 1.9% drop observed in 2009.
- While R&D investments of EU and US companies were the most affected by the crisis in 2009 (-2.6% and -5.1% respectively), these companies show a strong recovery of respectively 6.1% and 10% in 2010.
- The pharmaceuticals & biotechnology sector strengthens its position as the biggest sector in terms of R&D, while the other two top sectors (technology hardware & equipment and automobiles & parts) are now recovering from last year’s downturn.
- The specialisation of EU companies in the medium-high and US companies in the high R&D intensity sectors in the Scoreboard has been reinforced during the past eight years.
Two big economic issues create pressure for companies: national debt levels (which feed back into the banks and limit their lending to companies and hence affect company expansion plans) and the low growth rates being seen in developed economies which can limit the sales growth of many companies, particularly those selling more standard products.
Download the Scoreboard: EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard 2011
Source: JRC, Economics of Industrial Research and Innovation