Businesses in New Zealand provided a larger proportion of the country’s total R&D spend in 2012 than in 2010, figures released by the government on 27 March show.
Total spending on R&D by business in 2012 was $1.2 billion—an increase of 23 per cent compared with 2010. But despite the growth in business spending, the country’s total spending on R&D as a proportion of GDP has not changed and remains at 1.27 per cent—this is lower than many other OECD countries.
According to the figures published by Statistics New Zealand, total spending on R&D in New Zealand hit $2.6bn in 2010, an increase of 9 per cent compared with 2010. Government funding for business R&D climbed by 70 per cent. However, overall government spending on R&D was down by 5 per cent to $596m. Universities increased their R&D spending by 4 per cent to $836m over the same period.
Among industries, manufacturing spent the most on R&D in 2012, around $50m more than in 2010 at just more than $500m. It was followed by primary industries, health and environment. Spending was lower in industries such as construction and transport and energy.