OECD confirms UK surpassed 2.4% R&D investment target

Statistics suggest UK spent almost 3 per cent of GDP on R&D in 2020

Expectations that the UK has been significantly outperforming its target for R&D spending have been confirmed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development—despite years of official statistics stating otherwise.

On 16 March, the OECD published statistics suggesting that the UK spent 2.93 per cent of GDP on R&D in 2020 and 2.67 per cent in 2019, matching estimates produced by UK government officials.