Research and development in the Government sector 2013:
Reduced R&D funds to defence sector
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2014-10-23 9.30
Government sector expenditure on R&D activities has decreased between 2011 and 2013; at the same time the public sector has increased funding of R&D activities to other stakeholders. In particular, government funding to universities and colleges has increased. R&D activities focused on defence accounted for 41 percent of total R&D expenditure in 2013, compared to 51 percent in 2011.
Government sector expenditure on intramural (in-house) research and development (R&D) amounted to 6.1 billion in 2013, representing a decrease of SEK 710 million since 2011. It is mainly the defence sector that accounts for the decrease. Intramural R&D activities differ widely among sub-sectors. The county councils have the largest expenditure of intramural R & D and accounted for over half of the government sector's intramural R&D expenditures. R&D activities within county councils are almost exclusively focused on health.
Government sector funding of R&D, extramural (external) R&D, increased to SEK 16.1 billion, an increase of SEK 1.3 billion since 2011.
| 2011 | 2013 | |
|---|---|---|
| Government sector total | 6 843 | 6 133 |
| Government agencies | 2 574 | 2 271 |
| Public research foundations | ‑ | ‑ |
| County councils* | 3 995 | 3 492 |
| of which ALF-funds | 1 622 | 1 542 |
| Municipalities | 82 | 141 |
| Local and regional R& D units | 191 | 228 |
* ALF-resources (Agreement on Medical Training and Research) are also reported in the university and higher education sector. Please note that not all county councils have reported total expenditure for 2013; therefore comparisons between years should be done with caution.
Fewer R&D activities focused on defence
The single biggest focus for the R&D performed within the central government agencies was defence, even though expenditure decreased in 2013. R&D activities focused on defence accounted for 41 percent of total R&D expenditure in 2013, compared to 51 percent in 2011.
Municipalities in Skåne County have highest R&D expenditure
Municipalities in Skåne County had the highest expenditure on intramural R&D. The total expenditure in these municipalities amounted to SEK 41 million. Municipalities in Västra Götaland County spent a total of SEK 23 million on R&D activities, followed by municipalities in Stockholm County, where R&D expenditure amounted to 19 million. The chart shows the R&D expenditure carried out in the municipalities. However, many municipalities finance R&D carried out by local and regional R&D units.
Definitions and explanations
Research and Development (R&D)
Research is systematic work to find new knowledge or ideas with or without the aim of a particular purpose. Development work is a systematic work that uses research results, scientific knowledge or new ideas to bring about new material, goods, services, processes, systems, methods or significant improvements of those that already exist.
Intramural R&D includes activities carried out in Sweden by the organisation's own personnel, or by consultants in an R&D project led by the organisation, in which the organisation's personnel have worked together with the consultants. Intramural R&D includes R&D commissioned by others.
Extramural R&D refers to when an organisation has paid others to carry out activities (in Sweden or abroad). This also include grants awarded for R&D, e.g. to universities or institutes of higher education.
ALF-resources
ALF (Agreement for Medical Training and Research) refers to an agreement about compensation that the central government pays to certain county councils to cover the majority of costs that clinical training and research incur. ALF resources are also reported in the Research and development survey in the university and institution of higher learning sector. This survey will be published on 17 December 2014.
Publication
A more detailed report of this survey is published in a Statistical Report.
Statistical Database
More information is available in the Statistical Database
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.