Total research and development (R&D) expenditure reached over five billion dollars in 2022, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.
| Year | Total R&D expenditure |
| 2016 | 3136000000 |
| 2017 | |
| 2018 | 3922000000 |
| 2019 | |
| 2020 | 4713000000 |
| 2021 | |
| 2022 | 5247000000 |
| 3033000000 | 3240000000 |
|---|---|
| 3659000000 | 4185000000 |
| 4548000000 | 4878000000 |
| 5058000000 | 5436000000 |
Expenditure on R&D increased by 11 percent ($534 million) compared with 2020, and by 67 percent ($2 billion) compared with 2016. This covers the business, government, and higher education sectors.
“Growth in R&D expenditure has been driven by the business sector – nearly doubling what they spent between 2016 and 2022,” business performance manager Ricky Ho said.
R&D expenditure in the business sector grew by $1.5 billion compared with 2016 and accounted for 59 percent of total R&D expenditure in 2022. The number of businesses reporting R&D expenditure in 2022 was approximately 2,300, which grew by 45 percent compared with 2016.
The average expenditure per business has increased from $1.0 million in 2016 to $1.3 million in 2022.
| Year | Average business sector R&D expenditure |
| 2016 | 990300 |
| 2017 | |
| 2018 | 1116800 |
| 2019 | 1143000 |
| 2020 | 1171300 |
| 2021 | 1213400 |
| 2022 | 1320600 |
Within the business sector, the scientific research and technical services industry saw the greatest growth between 2016 and 2022, with expenditure increasing from $75 million to $321 million. This industry contributed 6 percent to total R&D expenditure in 2022.
Expenditure since 2016 also continued to grow in the government (up 37 percent) and higher education sectors (up 43 percent). Government expenditure was $900 million and higher education was $1.3 billion in 2022.
Information about the survey
The research and development survey 2022 surveyed the business, government, and higher education sectors between August and December 2022 about their R&D activity in their last financial year. Data on expenditure refers to R&D carried out within the entity, as opposed to the entity funding another entity to undertake R&D.
