Slovakia's expenditures on research far below EU average

At 0.83 percent of the country's GDP as of last year, Slovakia's expenditures on research and development are well below the average of the European Union, according to the latest analysis of Slovenská sporiteľňa bank. Conversely, neighbouring counties - Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland - spend far more on the field; the Czech Republic, for example, allocated 1.9 percent of GDP for research and development in 2013. The EU average was below the desired level of 3 percent of GDP last year - at approximately 2 percent of GDP according to Eurostat. The smallest expenditures on the sector were recorded in Romania, the highest are in Finland, Sweden and Denmark, which are the only three EU countries met the desired 3-percent goal.