Research and development statistics at regional level

Data extracted in April 2024.

Planned article update: September 2025.

Highlights

In 2023, the French capital region of Ile-de-France had the highest count for people employed in high-technology sectors (469 100), followed by Lombardia in northern Italy (276 300) and the Spanish capital region of Comunidad de Madrid (271 600).

The French capital region of Ile-de-France had 2.4 million core human resources in science and technology in 2023; the next highest count was in the Spanish capital region of Comunidad de Madrid (1.2 million).

Source: Eurostat (htec_emp_reg2)

Research and development (R&D) has the potential to improve the daily lives of millions of people, both within the European Union (EU) and elsewhere, by helping to solve some of the world’s largest societal, ecological and economic challenges.

The European Research Area (ERA) was created in 2000 to address the fragmentation of the EU’s research and innovation ecosystem; it was reinforced in 2020. The ERA is an ambitious project to create a single, borderless market for research, innovation and technology across the EU.

A Pact for Research and Innovation in Europe (Council Recommendation (EU) 2021/2122) reaffirmed the EU’s long-held target of investing at least 3% of its GDP on R&D. It provides a vision, setting-out a range of principles for research and innovation in the EU and 16 priority areas for action, with the overarching goals of

prioritising investments and reforms to accelerate the green and digital transformations
improving access to excellence and stronger research though an innovation ecosystem where best practice is disseminated faster
transferring research and innovation results to help boost the resilience and competitiveness of the EU economy and society
deepening the ERA to make further progress on the free circulation of knowledge in an efficient and effective research and innovation ecosystem.

Education, training and lifelong learning are considered vital to developing a region’s capacity to innovate, with universities across the EU implicated in the commercialisation of research and collaboration with businesses. To develop and expand its knowledge-based economy, the EU requires a consistent supply of highly skilled/qualified people. The infographic above shows the NUTS level 2 regions in the EU with the highest shares of employment within high-technology sectors. In 2023, a peak of 12.7% was recorded in the Czech capital region of Praha.

Full article

R&D expenditure

R&D may be defined as creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge or to devise new applications of existing knowledge. Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) includes research expenditure made by businesses, higher education institutions, governments and private non-profit organisations. In 2021, the EU’s GERD was valued at €331.0 billion; this is the latest year for which regional statistics are available. Fresher data are available for the EU total, which show that GERD increased 7.1% (in current price terms) to €354.7 billion in 2022.

R&D tends to be concentrated in clusters. Research-intensive regions are often situated around academic institutions, science parks, high-technology industrial activities and/or knowledge-based services. Regions with clusters of innovative activity tend to develop self-perpetuating systems: the concentration of competitive and cooperative enterprises in related activities may attract start-ups, other market players and highly qualified personnel which, in turn, drives the creation of new technologies and innovative output. Indeed, Europe’s predominantly urban regions are a magnet for R&D expenditure and personnel. The bustling, innovative atmosphere of urban centres has long attracted people seeking to take part in business/innovation/ecosystems – for example, countless people gravitated towards Renaissance Florence or 1920s Paris. Today that tradition continues in urban regions characterised

as major business and university hubs – like Stuttgart (Germany), Paris (France) or Rīga (Latvia)
by governmental institutions – like Brussels (Belgium) or Frankfurt (Germany).

In 2021, R&D activity was clustered in a small number of regions; more than 3 out of 4 regions had an R&D intensity below the EU average

The regional distribution of R&D expenditure underlines the significance of clusters of scientific and technological excellence. In 2021, the highest level of R&D expenditure was recorded in the French capital region of Ile-de-France (€21.7 billion), followed by the German regions of Stuttgart (€15.5 billion) and Oberbayern (€13.2 billion). The skewed nature of R&D activity was such that the 39 NUTS level 2 regions (out of 225 for which data are available) with R&D expenditure above €2.5 billion, together accounted for 64.9% of all the EU’s intramural R&D expenditure.

More about the data: R&D statistics

Starting from reference year 2021, regional business statistics on R&D expenditure and employment have a new legal basis – the EBS Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on European business statistics); it has resulted in improved coverage for regional statistics on R&D.

The methodology for R&D statistics is laid down in the Frascati manual (OECD, 2015). It provides guidelines for collecting and reporting data on research and experimental development, with definitions of basic concepts and classifications for compiling R&D statistics.

Regional R&D statistics are generally presented for NUTS level 2 regions. Exceptions are the Netherlands (where the data refer to NUTS level 1 regions) and Denmark, Norway and Switzerland (where national data are presented). These different territorial levels are included in the analyses when describing the counts of regions that meet specific criteria.

R&D intensity is frequently used as a measure to determine an economy’s creative/innovative capacity; it is the ratio of R&D expenditure to gross domestic product (GDP). Despite modest annual increases over the last couple of decades, R&D intensity in the EU remains below a long-established target of 3.00%. Having increased somewhat during the COVID-19 crisis – reflecting a larger downturn in GDP than R&D expenditure – R&D intensity returned to its pre-pandemic levels, with ratios of 2.27% in 2021 and 2.24% in 2022.

Compared with an analysis of R&D expenditure patterns, a study based on the regional distribution of R&D intensity is less influenced by the size of different regions, or the use of different NUTS levels or national data for some EU countries. Nevertheless, the regional distribution of R&D intensity was also heavily skewed: in 2021, fewer than a quarter (53 out of 225) of all regions for which data are available had an intensity ratio above the EU average of 2.27%.

There were 23 NUTS level 2 regions within the EU that recorded R&D intensity of at least 3.30% in 2021 – as shown by the darkest shade of blue in Map 1. They were concentrated exclusively in western and northern EU countries: Germany (11 regions), Belgium (4 regions), Austria and Sweden (both 3 regions), with single regions located in each of France and Finland. There were 4 capital regions within this group of 23, namely: Wien in Austria (4.04%), Helsinki-Uusimaa in Finland (3.77%), Stockholm in Sweden (3.57%) and Berlin in Germany (3.37%).

In 2021, the highest ratio of R&D intensity among NUTS level 2 regions was recorded in the Belgian region of Prov. Brabant Wallon (11.39%); its research activities are centred on pharmaceuticals, university research, life sciences, medical imagery, computing and telecommunications. The next highest ratios were recorded in 3 German regions: Stuttgart (6.81%), Braunschweig (6.09%) and Tübingen (5.47%). These regions are characterised by clusters of innovative automotive manufacturers, engineering and component suppliers, as well as companies specialising in bio and nanotechnologies and artificial intelligence. For example, the Stuttgart region is home, among others, to the headquarters of Bosch, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, while Tübingen has research institutes attached to its university, the Max Planck Institute and technology parks specialising in, among other fields, bio- and nanotechnologies and artificial intelligence.

At the other end of the scale, there were 21 NUTS level 2 regions in the EU where R&D intensity was less than 0.45% (they are shown in a yellow shade in Map 1). This group was concentrated in eastern EU countries: Romania (6 regions), Bulgaria (4 regions), Poland (2 regions), Czechia and Croatia (single regions). It also included 2 regions from Spain, as well as a single region in each of Belgium, Greece, Fance, Portugal and Finland. Most of these regions with very low R&D intensity were characterised as predominantly rural regions or islands.

Map 1: R&D intensity, 2021
(%, based on gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) relative to gross domestic product (GDP), by NUTS 2 regions)
Source: Eurostat (rd_e_gerdreg)

In 2021, R&D expenditure per inhabitant peaked at €5 901 per inhabitant in the Belgian region of Prov. Brabant Wallon

An alternative measure for the relative importance of R&D expenditure is provided by the ratio of expenditure to the population size. In 2021, R&D expenditure across the whole of the EU averaged €740 per inhabitant. Although 2021 is the latest reference year for which regional statistics are available, fresher data have already been published for the EU total, which shows R&D expenditure increasing, in 2022, to an average of €794 per inhabitant.

In 2021, there were 26 NUTS level 2 regions where the ratio of R&D expenditure per inhabitant was at least €1 500 (as shown by the darkest shade of blue in Map 2). These regions were located in northern and western EU countries: Germany (12 regions), Belgium (4 regions), Austria and Sweden (both 3 regions), and single regions from each of Denmark (national data), France, the Netherlands and Finland. As was the case for R&D intensity, the 3 highest ratios of R&D expenditure per inhabitant were recorded in the Belgian region of Prov. Brabant Wallon (€5 901 per inhabitant) and the German regions of Stuttgart (€3 742 per inhabitant) and Braunschweig (€3 075 per inhabitant).

The skewed nature of R&D expenditure was apparent insofar as 7 out of every 10 regions (161 out of 225 for which data are available) in the EU had a level of R&D expenditure per inhabitant that was below the EU average in 2021. This was the case in most eastern and southern EU countries, including

every region of Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia
all but one of the regions in Czechia, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia – the exceptions being their capital regions, except for Spain and Italy where they were País Vasco and Emilia-Romagna, respectively
Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia and Malta.

In 2021, there were 23 NUTS level 2 regions where R&D expenditure averaged less than €75 per inhabitant (as shown by the yellow shade in Map 2). They were concentrated in Romania (6 regions), Bulgaria (5 regions) and Poland (4 regions), while this group also included 2 regions from Spain and single regions from each of Belgium, Czechia, Greece, Croatia, Hungary and Slovakia. The lowest ratios were recorded in Romania: Sud-Est (€10 per inhabitant) and Sud-Vest Oltenia (€11 per inhabitant).

The skewed nature of R&D expenditure may be further underlined by contrasting expenditure per inhabitant in the Belgian region of Prov. Brabant Wallon – the EU region with the highest level of expenditure per inhabitant – to that of other regions, for example

Prov. Luxembourg – the Belgian region with the lowest level of expenditure per inhabitant – with expenditure 86 times as high in Brabant Wallon
Sud-Est in Romania – the EU region with the lowest level of expenditure per inhabitant – with expenditure 590 times as high in Brabant Wallon.

Map 2: R&D expenditure per inhabitant, 2021
(€, by NUTS 2 regions)
Source: Eurostat (rd_e_gerdreg)

Figure 1 confirms that regions with high levels of R&D intensity also tend to record high levels of R&D expenditure per inhabitant. As noted above, Prov. Brabant Wallon, Stuttgart and Braunschweig had the highest ratios of R&D intensity and R&D expenditure per inhabitant in 2021. A closer look at the results presented in Figure 1 confirms that 8 out of 10 regions were present in both rankings. The only exceptions were

Steiermark in Austria and Dresden in Germany that only featured among the 10 regions with the highest ratios of R&D intensity
Stockholm in Sweden and Prov. Antwerpen in Belgium that only featured among the 10 regions with the highest ratios of R&D expenditure per inhabitant.

Figure 1: R&D intensity and R&D expenditure per inhabitant, 2021
(by NUTS 2 regions)
Source: Eurostat (rd_e_gerdreg)

R&D personnel and researchers

There were 3.1 million full-time equivalents (FTEs) in the EU who were categorised as R&D personnel in 2021. To put this figure into context, R&D personnel accounted for 1.61% of total employment. In 2022, these figures increased to 3.2 million FTEs and a share of 1.64%.

More about the data: R&D personnel

R&D personnel consists of all individuals employed directly in the field of R&D. Alongside researchers, this also includes technicians and equivalent staff as well as supporting staff (such as managers, administrators and clerical staff). R&D personnel are employed in public and private sectors (in businesses, governments, higher education and private non-profit organisations) to create new knowledge, products, processes and methods, as well as to manage and support the projects concerned.

Researchers are people engaged in R&D activities. They are defined as ‘… professionals engaged in the conception or creation of new knowledge, products, processes, methods and systems, as well as in the management of the projects concerned … They conduct research and improve or develop concepts, theories, models, techniques instrumentation, software or operational methods’.

For statistical purposes, indicators on R&D personnel and researchers are compiled as both head counts and as full-time equivalents (FTEs); the latter are used as the numerator for the indicators presented in this section.

Regional statistics on R&D personnel are generally presented for NUTS level 2 regions. Exceptions are the Netherlands (where the data refer to NUTS level 1 regions) and Denmark, Switzerland and Türkiye (where national data are presented). Regional statistics on researchers are generally presented for NUTS level 2 regions. Exceptions are Belgium (where the data refer to NUTS level 1 regions), and Denmark and the Netherlands (where national data are presented).

In 2021 (the latest reference year for which regional statistics are available), there were 68 (out of 223) NUTS level 2 regions in the EU that had shares of R&D personnel (measured in FTEs) equal to or above the EU average. As such, and in common with many other science and technology indicators, the regional distribution of R&D personnel was highly skewed.

In 2021, there were 23 NUTS level 2 regions where R&D personnel (measured in FTEs) accounted for at least 2.55% of total employment; they are shown with the darkest shade of blue in Map 3. At the top end of the distribution, R&D personnel accounted for 6.10% of total employment in the Belgian region of Prov. Brabant Wallon (which also had the highest ratios of R&D expenditure – see above). There were 5 other regions where shares of more than 4.00% were observed, all within the relatively narrow range of 4.03–4.25%

the capital regions of Praha and Budapest in Czechia and Hungary
the Belgian region of Prov. Vlaams-Brabant
the German regions of Stuttgart and Braunschweig.

Capital regions made up almost half (11 out of 23) of this group of 23 regions where R&D personnel accounted for at least 2.55% of total employment. Alongside the capital regions of Czechia and Hungary (mentioned above), there were

4 other capital regions from eastern EU countries, namely, those of Poland, Slovakia, Croatia and Slovenia
3 capital regions from western EU countries, namely, those of Belgium, France and Austria
2 capital regions from Nordic EU countries, namely, those of Finland and Sweden.

The remaining 12 regions where R&D personnel accounted for at least 2.55% of total employment were almost all in western EU countries, with 1 exception located in Sweden.

By contrast, there were 23 NUTS level 2 regions where, in 2021, the share of R&D personnel (measured in FTEs) in total employment was less than 0.45% (as shown by the yellow shade in Map 3). A majority of this group was concentrated in eastern EU countries, principally across Romania (6 out of 8 regions, the only exceptions being the capital region of Bucureşti-Ilfov and Vest) and Poland (4 regions). The lowest shares were recorded in 2 Romanian regions – Sud-Vest Oltenia (0.11%) and Sud-Est (0.14%).

Map 3: R&D personnel, 2021
(% of total employment (numerator measured in full-time equivalents), by NUTS 2 regions)
Source: Eurostat (rd_p_persreg)

There were 2.0 million researchers working in the EU in 2021

As a leading global producer of scientific knowledge, the EU welcomes researchers from all over the world. In May 2021, the European Commission’s adopted a communication on a Global Approach to Research and Innovation – Europe’s strategy for international cooperation in a changing world (COM(2021) 252 final).

In 2021 (the latest year for which regional statistics are available), there were 2.0 million researchers in the EU; this figure is also expressed in terms of FTEs. Fresher data are available for the EU total, which show that the number increased 4.8% to 2.1 million in 2022. The skewed nature of research activity was such that 26 NUTS level 2 regions (out of 208 for which data are available) accounted for more than half of all researchers in the EU in 2021. This group of 26 regions was principally composed of capital regions and other urban regions: it included 6 regions from Germany, 4 regions from France and 2 regions from each of Spain, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Sweden. By contrast, at the other end of the distribution there were 117 regions where the number of researchers was fewer than 5 000 each; their cumulative share of the total number of researchers in the EU was 13.6%.

In absolute terms, the highest numbers of researchers were, unsurprisingly, recorded in some of the most populous and research-intensive regions of the EU. In 2021, there were 12 regions (including national data for Denmark and the Netherlands) that had more than 30 000 researchers (measured in FTEs), with a peak recorded in the French capital region of Ile-de-France (135 500 researchers). These 12 regions were spread across 9 different EU countries.

In 2021, Budapest had the highest share of researchers in total employment, at 3.07%

By normalising the data, it’s possible to reduce the influence of those territories for which only national or NUTS level 1 data are available. In 2021, the Hungarian capital region of Budapest had the highest share of researchers (measured in FTEs) in total employment, at 3.07%. The next highest shares were observed in Västsverige (which includes the city of Gothenburg) in Sweden (2.71%), and the Czech and Polish capital regions of Praha and Warszawski stołeczny (both 2.59%). This high concentration of research activity in capital regions may be attributed to several reinforcing factors including, among others: a concentration of research institutions, universities, and scientific organisations; state-of-the-art research infrastructure and equipment; high levels of funding for research and innovation; collaborative and networking opportunities; a broad range of job opportunities for researchers.

Statistics on researchers are compiled for 4 different institutional sectors: business, government, higher education and private non-profit. Figure 2 shows that the relative importance of these different sectors varied across regions. In 2021, researchers (measured in FTEs) in the EU’s business sector accounted for 0.58% of total employment. Smaller shares were recorded for researchers employed in the EU’s higher education (0.33%) and government sectors (0.11%); data for the private non-profit sector aren’t shown as they accounted for a very small share of the workforce (0.01%).

The highest shares of researchers working within the business sector were generally recorded in western and Nordic EU countries. In 2021, researchers (measured in FTEs) working in the business sector as a share of total employment peaked at 2.33% in the Swedish region of Västsverige, closely followed by the German region of Stuttgart (2.28%).

Within the higher education sector, the highest share of researchers (measured in FTEs) was recorded in the Slovak capital region of Bratislavský kraj, where they accounted for 1.21% of all persons employed. The Greek region of Ipeiros had the 2nd highest share (1.01%) and was the only other region in the EU where researchers in the government sector accounted for more than 1.00% of total employment.

In 2021, the Czech capital region of Praha recorded the highest share of researchers (measured in FTEs) working in the government sector, equivalent to 0.77% of total employment. Relatively high shares were also recorded in the Slovak capital region of Bratislavský kraj (0.70%) and the Hungarian capital region of Budapest (0.60%).

Figure 2: Researchers, by sector of performance, 2021
(% of total employment (numerator measured in full-time equivalents), by NUTS 2 regions)
Source: Eurostat (rd_p_persreg)

Human resources in science and technology – core

In 2023, there were 123.0 million people aged 15–74 in the EU classified as human resources in science and technology (HRST). Among these, there were 98.1 million people who met the HRST educational criterion (see the box for more details), 78.3 million who met the occupational criterion, and 53.4 million who met both the educational and occupational criteria. This latter group constitutes what is often referred to as the ‘core’ HRST group; they are the principal focus of the information presented in this section.

A skilled workforce is generally considered a key driver of growth, enhancing innovation and competitiveness. Equipping the EU workforce with the requisite skills also enhances the EU economy’s ability to navigate the green and digital transitions, ensuring it grows in a sustainable and competitive manner. The European Year of Skills was designed to address skills gaps in the EU and to boost the EU’s skills strategy. It contributed to the upskilling of people by highlighting national efforts as well as existing and new EU initiatives. The closing event of the Year (at the end of April 2024) highlighted, among other points, that

there is a need to put people and their skills centre stage in the green and digital transitions
the development of transversal skills (such as critical thinking, communication and problem-solving) represent a human advantage in a progressively automated environment
skills are inclusive, empowering individuals who wish to upskill and/or reskill
sufficient funding for training remains a challenge within the EU
there is a need to address skills shortages.

More about the data: statistics on human resources in science and technology – core

Human resources in science and technology – core are defined as people who fulfil both of the following criteria.

They have successfully completed a tertiary education, as defined by the international standard classification of education (ISCED) levels 5–8.
They are employed in a science and technology occupation where the above qualifications are normally required; in other words, people not formally qualified but working as professionals, technicians and associate professionals – as defined by the international standard classification of occupations (ISCO) major groups 2–3 – are also included. Science and technology occupations comprise those whose main tasks require either a high level of professional knowledge or technical knowledge and experience in 1 or more fields from the physical sciences, life sciences, social sciences or humanities.

The criteria used to define HRST statistics are broader than those used to delineate R&D personnel and researchers, as the latter refer specifically to occupations (namely, if a person is directly engaged in R&D through creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge or to devise new applications of existing knowledge).

Map 4 shows the distribution of HRST – core across NUTS level 2 regions. Regions with high shares of HRST – core in their labour force are likely to experience a number of benefits, such as higher productivity, higher wage levels, and clusters of research and technology activity. Factors such as these, in turn, are likely to reinforce their attractiveness to graduates and to (new) businesses, thereby generating spillover effects.

In 2023, the highest counts of HRST – core were recorded in some of the most populous NUTS level 2 regions of the EU: Ile-de-France (2.4 million) and Rhône-Alpes (1.1 million) in France, Comunidad de Madrid (1.2 million), Cataluña (1.0 million) and Andalucía (0.8 million) in Spain, Lombardia (0.9 million) in Italy, Oberbayern in Germany (0.8 million) and Warszawski stołeczny in Poland (0.8 million) were the only EU regions to report in excess of 0.75 million HRST – core. They were followed by 13 other regions, principally located in western EU countries, that had more than 0.5 million people classified as HRST – core: Germany (5 regions), the Netherlands, Poland (2 regions each), Spain, France and Sweden (single regions each). As well as the capital regions of France, Spain and Poland (mentioned above), there were an additional 4 capital regions – those of Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy – where more than 0.5 million people were classified as HRST – core.

HRST – core accounted for 24.5% of the EU’s labour force in 2023. As with most other science and technology indicators, the regional distribution of this indicator was highly skewed. In approximately 1 in 3 regions (85 out of 241 NUTS level 2 regions for which data are available), the share of HRST – core in the labour force was higher than the EU average, while there were 155 regions that had lower than average shares.

In 2023, Luxembourg, the Hungarian capital region of Budapest and the Polish capital region of Warszawski stołeczny had the highest shares of HRST – core in their labour forces, at 45.4%, 44.8% and 44.4% respectively. There were 4 other regions that recorded shares of more than 40.0%: all 4 were capital regions, those of Sweden, Czechia, Croatia and Lithuania.

There were 18 NUTS level 2 regions where the share of HRST – core in the labour force was less than 15.0% in 2023 (as shown by the yellow shade in Map 4). This group was largely composed of rural and peripheral regions, which were exclusively located in eastern and southern EU countries. The lowest shares were observed in the Czech region of Severozápad (12.1%), the Romanian region of Sud-Muntenia (10.8%) and the Greek region of Notio Aigaio (10.6%).

Map 4: Human resources in science and technology – core, 2023
(by NUTS 2 regions)
Source: Eurostat (hrst_st_rcat)

Figure 3 provides a summary listing the NUTS level 2 regions with the highest numbers of HRST – core and those with the highest shares of HRST – core in the labour force. In 2023, the French and Polish capital regions of Ile-de-France and Warszawski stołeczny were the only regions to appear in both rankings

Ile-de-France had 2.4 million HRST – core, which equated to 39.3% of its labour force
Warszawski stołeczny had 0.8 million HRST – core, which equated to 44.4% of its labour force.

The data presented in Figure 3 underline that overall numbers of HRST tended to be relatively high in some of the EU’s largest metropolitan regions, while capital regions were often characterised by high shares of HRST in the labour market. Utrecht in the Netherlands (39.7%) was the only non-capital region to feature among the 10 NUTS level 2 regions with the highest shares of HRST – core in the labour market.

Figure 3: Human resources in science and technology – core, 2023
(by NUTS 2 regions)
Source: Eurostat (hrst_st_rcat)

In 2023, there were 10.3 million people employed in high-technology sectors across the EU

High-technology sectors are considered key drivers of economic growth and productivity, and often provide well-paid employment opportunities. In 2023, there were 10.3 million people employed in high-technology sectors across the EU, which represented 5.0% of total employment.

More about the data: employment in high-technology sectors

High-technology sectors comprise high-technology manufacturing sectors and knowledge-intensive high-technology services. The statistics presented for these sectors cover all people (including support staff) who work in enterprises in these sectors, not the number of highly qualified workers.

High-technology sectors are identified in terms of a sectoral approach

high-technology manufacturing covers NACE Divisions 21 and 26 (manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations; manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products)
high-tech knowledge-intensive services cover NACE Divisions 59 to 63 and 72 (motion picture, video and television programme production, sound recording and music publish activities; programming and broadcasting activities; telecommunications; computer programming, consultancy and related activities; information service activities; scientific research and development).

A distinction is made between high-technology manufacturing sectors and knowledge-intensive high-technology services due to the existence of 2 different methodologies

R&D intensities are used to distinguish between high, medium-high, medium-low and low-technology manufacturing industries
the proportion of the workforce that has completed a tertiary education is used to distinguish between knowledge-intensive services and other services.

There were 24 NUTS level 2 regions where at least 100 000 people were employed in high-technology sectors in 2023 (as shown by the largest circles in Map 5). In keeping with most science and technology indicators, these regions were principally located in some of the largest capital/metropolitan regions of the EU. Just over half of this group (13 out of the 24) was composed of capital regions. The highest count of employment in high-technology sectors was recorded in the French capital region of Ile-de-France (469 100). There were 3 other regions across the EU with more than 250 000 people employed: Lombardia in northern Italy, the Spanish capital region of Comunidad de Madrid and Oberbayern in southern Germany.

To give some idea of the skewed nature of the distribution, the 24 regions that employed at least 100 000 people in their high-technology sectors together employed 4.1 million people in 2023, equivalent to 40.2% of the EU total. This was similar to the cumulative share of the 172 regions which each had fewer than 60 000 people employed in high-technology sectors (4.1 million people; 39.5%). At the bottom end of the distribution, there were 14 regions where fewer than 5 000 people were employed in high-technology sectors. This group included 3 regions where 2 000 people or fewer were employed in high-technology sectors, all of them were located in Greece – Anatoliki Makedonia, Thraki; Ipeiros; and Dytiki Makedonia.

In 2023, the Romanian region of Sud-Muntenia had an almost equal gender balance for the number of people employed in high-technology sectors

As well as identifying the regions with the highest/lowest numbers of people employed in high-technology sectors, Map 5 also shows the relative importance of the male/female workforce in high-technology sectors. In 2023, women accounted for 32.9% of total employment in the EU’s high-technology sectors. The female share of employment in high-technology sectors ranged across NUTS level 2 regions

from highs of 47.2 to 48.7% in Sud-Muntenia in Romania, Severen tsentralen in Bulgaria, Alsace in France and Észak-Magyarország in Hungary
down to less than 20.0% in the Belgian regions of Prov. Liège and Prov. Luxembourg, the Swedish regions of Småland med öarna and Norra Mellansverige, and the Dutch regions of Friesland and Flevoland.

Map 5: Employment in high-technology sectors, by sex, 2023
(by NUTS 2 regions)
Source: Eurostat (htec_emp_reg2)

Source data for figures and maps

Research and development at regional level

Data sources

Starting from reference year 2021, regional business statistics on R&D expenditure and employment in R&D have a new legal basis – the EBS Regulation – Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197 that lays down technical specifications. They provide the detailed rules about the production of European statistics on science and technology (for example, datasets, analyses, frequency or transmission timetable to be respected by the EU countries).

Regional data on human resources in science and technology and data on high-technology sectors are derived from the labour force survey (LFS), whose legal basis, starting with survey year 2021, is an integrated European social statistics (IESS) regulation – Regulation (EU) No 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 October 2019 establishing a common framework for European statistics relating to persons and households, based on data at individual level collected from samples.

The methodology for R&D statistics is laid down in the Frascati manual (OECD, 2015). It provides guidelines for collecting and reporting data on research and experimental development, with definitions of basic concepts and classifications for compiling R&D statistics.

The methodology for statistics on HRST is laid down in the Canberra manual (OECD, 1995), which lists all HRST concepts and provides definitions of human resources devoted to science and technology in terms of qualification (levels and fields of study) and occupation.

Context

It is often claimed that Europe faces an innovation deficit. Indeed, a European Commission communication adopted in January 2018, Horizon 2020 interim evaluation: maximising the impact of EU research and innovation (COM(2018) 2 final), identified that the EU’s innovation deficit wasn’t due to an absence of new ideas or discoveries, but rather reflected a lack of success in diffusing/commercialising inventions. This may, in part, be linked to the willingness of EU businesses and financial systems to accept risk, which may impinge upon their ability to identify disruptive research.

In much the same way as the industrial revolution triggered a paradigm shift, the dual challenges of climate change and the post-pandemic recovery are likely to lead to profound socioeconomic transformations. The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation has put forward a transformative vision for the future. Industry 5.0 seeks to build resilience within existing economic structures of the EU, while bringing about transformations based on sustainable, regenerative and circular production. As technological progress often displays strong agglomeration effects and new emerging value chains tend to concentrate in more innovative regions, Industry 5.0 promotes initiatives to rebalance regional performance, through investment in ‘de-industrialised’ regions and regions that have been ‘left-behind’.

A recent report by the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation titled Combining regional strengths to narrow the EU innovation divide identifies that the innovation divide across EU regions is due to a concentration of innovation-critical factors – such as talent and funding – in hubs (a defining feature of strong innovation ecosystems). The report argues that synergies with other policies, such as skills and economic redistribution, should be encouraged in order to maximise research and innovation policy impacts.

Horizon Europe

The EU’s framework programmes for research have, since their launch in 1984, played a leading role in multidisciplinary research activities. In December 2020, political agreement was reached on the proposals for Horizon Europe, the EU’s 9th framework programme for research and innovation that runs through until 2027; this programme has a total budget of €95.5 billion, the vast majority of which is allocated from the multiannual financial framework for 2021–27. The Horizon Europe’s 2nd strategic plan covers the period from 2025–27. It is based on 3 strategic orientations

the green transition
the digital transition
a more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe.

Within Horizon Europe, 5 areas have been identified with the aim of increasing the effectiveness of funding by pursuing clearly defined targets

adaptation to climate change
cancer
restoring our oceans and waters
climate-neutral and smart cities
a soil deal for Europe.

European research area (ERA)

The European research area (ERA) has the ambition of creating a single, borderless market for research, innovation and technology across the EU. It was launched in 2000 and is designed to help EU countries be more effective, by aligning their research policies and programmes. The free circulation of researchers and knowledge enables better cross-border cooperation, building of critical mass and continent-wide competition.

In September 2020, the European Commission published a communication on A new ERA for Research and Innovation (COM(2020) 628 final). It noted that, although the EU is still a global leader in research and innovation, its performance has stagnated in recent years. Some other countries, particularly from Asia, have increased in importance in terms of research and innovation and more broadly in their use of technology.

Drawing on lessons from the COVID-19 crisis, the communication proposed to strengthen the ERA and reinforce research and innovation across the EU, with the goal of improving its prosperity and economic competitiveness, as well as its autonomy. The communication proposed a ‘new approach in order to accelerate Europe’s green and digital transformation, strengthen Europe’s resilience and preparedness to face future crises, and to support Europe’s competitive edge in the global race for knowledge’.

The European Research Area Policy Agenda 2022–24 identifies 4 priority areas that are composed of 20 different actions

deepening a truly functioning internal market for knowledge
taking-up together the challenges posed by the twin green and digital transition, and increasing society’s participation in the ERA
amplifying access to research and innovation excellence across the EU
advancing concerted research and innovation investments and reforms.

Within the ERA, the Knowledge Exchange Platform (KEP 2.0) is an important forum for European regions and cities. It allows them to discuss a range of issues related to research and innovation and synergies with Horizon Europe and other funds.