R&D expenditure of the business enterprise sector by subsector and company size

Investments

Data publication

How does R&D expenditure looks like in the business enterprise sector? In this data publication we show the distribution of R&D expenditure in the business enterprise sector by 1) different subsectors and 2) various size categories.

In short

  • The industry subsector performs the largest share of the R&D expenditure within the business sector.
  • Large business enterprises (250+ employees) are accountable for the largest contribution to R&D expenditure.
  • The breaks in the trend visible in 2011, 2012 and 2013 are caused by changes in the data collection.
Source: Statistics Netherlands
Notes: 2022 through 2024 figures are preliminary. There are two trendbreaks, in 2011 and 2013. In both cases, the apparent rise in R&d-expenditure is caused by a change in the data collection. In 2011, businesses with less than ten employees were included in R&D-statistics. In 2019, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) has revised the Dutch R&D-statistics in coherence with international guidelines as presented in the Frascati manual. Figures have been adapted from 2013 onwards. The revision leads to a rise in R&D-expenditure of €1,7 billion, mainly in the business sector. For a further explanation of the changes, see our factsheet on the funding and performance of R&D in the Netherlands.
Source: Statistics Netherlands
Notes: 2022 through 2024 figures are preliminary. There are two trendbreaks, in 2011 and 2013. In both cases, the apparent rise in R&d-expenditure is caused by a change in the data collection. In 2011, businesses with less than ten employees were included in R&D-statistics. In 2019, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) has revised the Dutch R&D-statistics in coherence with international guidelines as presented in the Frascati manual. Figures have been adapted from 2013 onwards. The revision leads to a rise in R&D-expenditure of €1,7 billion, mainly in the business sector. For a further explanation of the changes, see our factsheet on the funding and performance of R&D in the Netherlands.

Analysis
The industry subsector performs the largest share of the R&D expenditure within the business sector. The inclusion of small businesses, has caused the share of R&D expenditure of the subsectors "services" and "others" to increase, at the expense of the share of industry R&D expenditure. Since 2013, when R&D by hired personnel is included in the R&D statistics and some research institutes are re-classified as businesses, the share of the services sector rises again. This happens at the cost of the Industry sector. Since 2015 the share of business R&D expenditure by Industry has been consistently approximately 50%.

Large business enterprises (250+ employees) are accountable for the largest contribution to R&D expenditure. Even in absolute terms, the R&D expenditure of large business enterprises increases every year, except in the wake of the 2008 and 2009 financial crisis.

The dominant position of large companies is also evident from the distribution of R&D expenditure within the business sector. According to the R&D Top 30 of 2024 published by Technisch Weekblad, the top five consisted of ASML, Philips, Booking.com, KPN, and Johnson & Johnson. Together they accounted for almost a quarter of all business enterprise R&D expenditure. Within this group, ASML holds an exceptional position: the company invests around €2.8 billion in R&D; more than the other four companies combined (approximately €1.7 billion). This top five illustrates that the bulk of corporate R&D investment in the Netherlands is concentrated among a small number of large, usually internationally operating companies, mainly active in the high-tech and service sectors.

In 2016 the relative share of businesses with 10-49 employees increases  to 21% of business R&D-expenditure, while the shares of the larger companies decline. This happens because as of this year businesses with 0-10 employees are included. In the years thereafter the share of large businesses grows again from 54% to about 67% as of 2024.
 

Download the excel file with more data on business enterprises (number of enterprises, R&D-expenditure and R&D-personnel)

For an explanation of the used acronyms we kindly refer to the web page Definitions for Science in Figures.

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