South Africa’s R&D expenditure continues to grow steadily. Total 2009 R&D expenditure was R21,041 billion ($3.0 billion), up 12.9%, or 2.2% in real terms (disregarding the effects of price increases). Gross expenditure of R&D was 0.92%, a decline in the percentage of GDP for the second year in a row. The proportion of R&D performers remained constant. The business sector performed the majority of R&D, totaling about 58%, followed by the public sector with about 41% and the nonprofit sector with the remaining 1%. By field, engineering sciences represented 24% of total R&D expenditure, the natural sciences accounted for 21%, followed by medical and health sciences with 15%, applied sciences and technology with 9% and agricultural sciences with 6%. The percentage of R&D financed by foreign countries continues to rise and is currently at about 10.7%. The survey also showed a low proportion of researchers to the total employed, with the number of researchers per 1,000 employed declining from 1.5 to 1.4.

Source: Department of Science and Technology