Germany hits 3% R&D spending target, says statistics agency

Germany has further increased its spending on research and development, a report has found.

The German Federal Statistics Office reckons that according to provisional figures, the nation spent €104.8 billion on research and development in 2018, which corresponds to a 3.1 per cent share of gross domestic product.

Hence, Germany has exceeded the target of spending at least 3 per cent of GDP on R&D, as set out in the European Union’s growth strategy ‘Europe 2020’, the agency said in a statement. This follows an increase from 2.9 per cent in 2015 and 2016 and means that, Germany is edging closer to the Federal government’s target spending 3.5 per cent of GDP in this area by 2025.