In 2017, R&D expenditures in Greece totaled €2.0 billion ($2.3 billion), a 15.9% jump, while the nation’s R&D intensity indicator, which is R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP, grew 0.1% to 1.14%. All sectors increased R&D spending in 2017, with the business and government sectors growing R&D expenditures 33.8% and 2.1% to €990.8 million ($1.1 billion) and €448.1 million ($511.2 million), respectively. The higher education sector’s R&D expenditure grew 3.3% to €577.7 million ($658.5 million), while the private nonprofit sector’s R&D spending rose 5.1% to €16.4 million ($18.7 million).

For most of these sectors, the vast majority of funding was sourced by the sector itself. In the business sector, 84% of R&D expenditure was self-funded, with the government and higher education sectors self-funding 76% and 67% of total R&D expenditures, respectively. Only in the private nonprofit sector did the majority of funding come from outside sources, as the sector self-funded 40% of R&D expenditures. In 2017, R&D intensity in the business sector was 0.56%, an increase of 13 basis points, and 0.25% in the government sector, for which R&D intensity remained flat. In the higher education and private nonprofit sectors, R&D intensity also remained flat at 0.325% and 0.01%, respectively.

The main source of foreign funding was the European Commission (EC) through its Framework Programs for Research, which includes programs such as Horizon 2020. In 2017, the EC provided €215.1 million ($245.5 million) in R&D funding, a 3.2% increase. Per its 2017 R&D expenditures, Greece ranked 16^th among EU28 countries.

Full-time R&D personnel and researchers also increased in 2017, growing 15.4% and 19.7%, respectively. The higher education sector led with 17,861 researchers, and was followed by the business sector with 10,664 researchers, government with 6,372 researchers and the private nonprofit sector with 289 researchers.

Source: National Documentation Center