Türkiye spent 651.8 bln liras on R&D in 2004: Survey

ANKARA

Türkiye spent 651.8 billion Turkish Liras ($15.5 billion) on research and development (R&D) last year, with an increase of 274.3 billion liras compared to the previous year, official data made public on Oct. 20 showed.

According to the Turkish Statistical Institute’s (TÜİK) "2024 Research and Development Activities Survey," the ratio of gross domestic R&D expenditure to GDP increased from 1.39 percent in 2023 to 1.46 percent in 2024, while the GDP stood at 44 trillion 587 billion 225 million liras.

Financial and non-financial companies accounted for the largest share of R&D expenditures at 64.8 percent, followed by higher education with 30.9 percent. The total government R&D expenditure share, including that of non-profit organizations, was calculated to be 4.3 percent. Personnel expenditures constituted the largest expenditure item within R&D expenditures at 59.5 percent.

In 2024, financial and non-financial companies financed 53.8 percent of R&D expenditures. The general government covered 30.4 percent, higher education institutions covered 12.9 percent, foreign sources covered 2.9 percent and other domestic sources covered 0.01 percent.

In 2024, a total of 310,473 people worked as full-time equivalent (FTE) R&D personnel. Of those, 106,074 were female, accounting for 34.2 percent of the total.

Of the R&D personnel examined according to their educational status, 39.9 percent had a bachelor's degree. The next largest group had a doctorate or equivalent (30.6 percent), followed by those with a master's degree (20.3 percent), a vocational high school degree (4.9 percent) and a high school degree or below (4.4 percent).

According to the survey, 32.6 percent of R&D personnel were employed in Istanbul, 19.2 percent in Ankara and 8.3 percent in the region comprising the northwestern provinces of Kocaeli, Sakarya, Düzce, Bolu and Yalova.