Forecast for 2019: 4.5 percent rise in R&D expenditures in Austria, multinational spending up four percent

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According to a forecast published by Statistics Austria, about EUR 12.8 billion will be spent on research and development (R&D) In Austria in the year 2019.

This comprises a rise of some EUR 550 million or 4.5 percent compared to the figure of EUR 12.3 billion in the previous year. The research to GDP ratio will thus equal 3.19 percent in 2019 (2018: 3.17 percent). Since 2014 Austria has surpassed the targeted level in the EU of three percent spending on R&D by 2020).

The corporate sector accounts for close to half of research expenditures (49 percent) or about EUR 6.3 billion for R&D. This equals a rise of 5.3 percent compared to 2018. The public sector finances about 35 percent of total research spending, up 3.6 percent from the prior-year level. The Republic of Austria provides EUR 3.8 billion or the lion’s share of public research funding (30 percent of total R&D spending). According to Statistics Austria, this includes disbursements of EUR 670 million in 2019 to companies by the Ministry of Finance which are related to the research tax credit. Considerable research funding continues to come from abroad, mainly from multinational companies whose Austrian subsidiaries carry out research. These sources will provide about EUR 2 billion for research and development in 2019, representing an increase of four percent year-on-year. 

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