According to the “2014 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard,” the world’s top 2,500 companies for R&D investment spent €538.5 billion ($718.0 billion) on R&D in fiscal 2013, an increase of 4.9%. Net sales growth for these firms was 2.7%, and their capital spending increased 2.5%. Scoreboard companies each invested more than €15.5 million ($20.7 million) in R&D in fiscal 2013, accounting for about 90% of the world’s R&D spending. Companies in South Korea, China and Taiwan posted the greatest increases in R&D investment, at 16.6%, 9.8% and 7.5%, respectively. Worldwide, the pharmaceuticals and biotechnology sector led the rise in R&D investment, increasing spending by 2.4%. Expenditures by biotechnology companies on R&D grew 20.4%, while that of pharmaceutical companies increased 0.2%. Chemical firms, and oil and gas producers increased R&D spending by 2.6% and 0.3%, respectively. Chemical, and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies’ sales rose 3.9% and 2.8%, respectively, while those of oil and gas producers did not change.

Source: European Commission