R&D spending in six EU countries fell between 2009 and 2019

Spending fell furthest in Finland and increased most in Belgium, statistics agency says

Six EU countries spent a smaller share of their GDP on R&D in 2019 compared with 2009, the latest official EU data show.

Data published by the EU statistics agency Eurostat on 27 November put average EU spending on R&D in 2019 at 2.19 per cent, up from 1.97 per cent in 2009. But this average increase masked widely varying trends at the level of individual member states.