Last year, Slovakia invested an average of 70 euros per Slovak in research and development. This amount is almost only a third of the European average, which is approximately 262 euros per person. Spending is growing significantly slower than in the rest of Europe, and the recovery plan aims to change that. Eurostat published data on the government's budget expenditure on research and development for 2022.
The neighboring countries of Poland (69 euros) and Hungary (62 euros) were closely behind Slovakia. At the very end of the ranking is Romania, whose average per inhabitant was only 17 euros. The largest amount per inhabitant was in Luxembourg, where the amount per inhabitant reaches up to 660 euros. Denmark (529 euros) and Germany (517 euros) give one hundred euros less. Spending in the rest of the EU also grew significantly faster than Slovakia's.
The entire EU invested 117 billion euros last year, which is a 49 percent increase compared to 2012. Slovakia has increased its investments by only 26 percent over the last ten years. It even reduced support between 2021 and 2022. Even investments in terms of GDP do not have a positive effect. While the average country invested 0.74 percent of GDP in 2022, Slovakia only invested 0.35 percent. This is the least in the last ten years. Germany spent the most, up to 1.11 percent of GDP, on research and development.
Source: EURACTIV
