Gross expenditure on R&D (GERD) in South Africa rose 7.5% in fiscal 2013 to ZAR 23.9 billion ($2.2 billion). At 0.76%, GERD as a percentage of GDP did not change. Expenditures rose in all sectors, with business and higher education leading spending at ZAR 10.6 billion ($957 million) and ZAR 7.3 billion ($664 million), up 1.0% and 11.0%, respectively. The science councils spent ZAR $4.0 billion ($364 million) on R&D, up 7.9%. The government, including science councils and universities, was the source of the highest R&D funding, increasing 13.3% to ZAR 10.8 billion ($983 million). Business funding of R&D rose 6.0% to ZAR 9.2 billion ($828 million). Applied, experimental and basic research accounted for 46%, 28% and 25% of total expenditures, respectively. The highest-spending research fields were medical and health sciences, engineering sciences, and applied science and technologies, at ZAR 4.1 billion ($372 million), ZAR 3.9 billion ($353 million) and 2.3 billion ($204 million), up 7.6%, 3.4% and 6.5%, respectively.

Source: Department of Science and Technology