Government support for R&D, in % of GDP

Investments

Data publication

To be able to compare the Dutch government support for R&D with other countries, we look at the government contribution as a percentage of GDP. In this data publication we look at the direct government contribution, at the indirect government support, and at the government support for R&D of companies.

In short

  • Direct Dutch government support for R&D is slightly above the European average.
  • Nine countries provide more indirect (fiscal) government support.
  • There is a large variation in the extent of public support for companies, with the Netherlands in a middle position.

Direct government support for R&D

Source: UK and OECD-average: OECD MSTI-database march 20205, other countries: EUROSTAT
Notes: The indicator is based on figures concerning the government budgets for R&D. The figures are known under the name GBARD (Government Budget Allocations for R&D). The figure for the United Kingdom refers to 2022.

Explanatory note
If we look at the direct government contribution to R&D (the figure above), we see that the Netherlands is comparable to Norway. Several governments of reference countries spend more on direct support than the Netherlands.

Direct and indirect government support for R&D

Source: Direct support: UK and OECD-averages from OECD MSTI database march 2025, other countries from EUROSTAT; Indirect support: OECD tax incentives database: inhttp://www.oecd.org/sti/rd-tax-stats.htm
Notes: The indicator is based on figures concerning the government budgets for R&D. The figures are known under the name GBARD (Government Budget Allocations for R&D). Austria, Belgium, EU-27, Ireland, Italy, OECD-average and UK: 2022. france and US: 2021.

Explanatory note
The figure above shows that the level of fiscal support indirect (fiscal) government support in the Netherlands is average. While the percentage of bbp for the Netherlands is equal to the OECD average and slightly above the EU-27 average, nine countries hoave a higher level of fiscal government support for business R&D. There are major differences between countries in the scope of the tax support. In 2023, fiscal support as a percentage of GDP ranged from no fiscal support for Switzerland to 0.30 percent of GDP for the United Kingdom (2022 figure). The percentage for the Netherlands was 0.13. If we take direct and indirect support together, we see that the Netherlands is just above the average of EU-27 countries.

Direct and indirect government support for R&D of business enterprises

Source: OECD tax incentives database http://www.oecd.org/sti/rd-tax-stats.htm
Notes: a) The data on direct government support are based on surveys of companies. They are asked for their funding source. The data on indirect (fiscal) support are based on an OECD country oriented survey and are based on government data.b) Austria, Belgium, EU-27, Ireland, Italy, OECD and UK: 2022. France and UK: 2021. China:2017.c) for some countries, data on direct government support for business R&D stems from an earlier year than the indirect government support: EU27 (direct 2021, indirect 2022), Germany (direct 2022, indirect 2023) Sweden (direct 2021, indirect 2023), and Switzerland (direct 2021, indirect 2023).d) Denmark is missing in this graph due to a lack of data on government support for business R&D.

Explanatory note
The figure above focuses on the public support of R&D of companies, which consists of direct financial support and indirect fiscal support. The figure shows that:

  • there is a large variation in the extent of public support for companies, with the Netherlands in a middle position;
  • the share of fiscal support varies. For the Netherlands, at 55%, the share of business support is slightly low.

The data on indirect fiscal government support only take into account measures that are directed at lowering the costs of R&D activities, in accordance with international statistical agreements as lain down in the OECD Frascati Manual. There are also fiscal measures that provide fiscal advantages on the profits made with R&D activities, such as the Dutch Innovatiebox. They are not included primarily because they reward R&D investments after the fact. More on the Innovatiebox can be read in the publication TWIN 2023-2029 (only in Dutch). More information on tax incentives in international perspective can be found on the website of the OECD. 

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

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Related publications

  • Government funding of R&D
  • R&D investments in international perspective
  • R&D expenditure and capacity by field of science
  • R&D expenditure, funded by the government and companies, as a % of GDP
  • R&D expenditure in the public sector, privately funded, in %
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