site.btaEurostat: Bulgaria Leads in EU Research Funding Growth but Lags in GDP Share in 2023

Bulgaria is among leaders in growth of EU Research Funding, but among the last in R&D budget allocations per person, according to a 2023 Eurostat report published on Tuesday. In 2023, the total government budget allocations for R&D (GBARD) across the EU stood at EUR 123,684 million, equivalent to 0.73% of GDP. This was a 5.3% increase compared with 2022 (EUR 117,424 million) and a 54.8% increase compared with 2013 (EUR 79,886 million).

In 2023, government budget allocations for R&D at the EU level stood at EUR 275.6 per person, a 53.3% increase compared with 2013 (EUR 181.0 per person).

The EU countries with the lowest R&D budget allocations per person were Romania (EUR 21.2 per person), Bulgaria (EUR 33.1) and Hungary (EUR 48.1). The highest allocations were recorded in Luxembourg (EUR 646.6 per person), followed at by Denmark (EUR 552.4) and Germany (EUR 529.3).

Between 2013 and 2023, almost all EU governments increased their budget allocations for R&D in terms of euro per person. Bulgaria was among the countries with the largest percentage increases (+133% from EUR 14.2 to EUR 33.1), after Latvia (+291% from EUR 16.0 per person in 2013 to EUR 62.6 in 2023) and Poland (+147% from EUR 37.8 to EUR 93.3). Hungary was the only EU country to register a decrease (-28% from EUR 66.9 to EUR 48.1).

More than a third of the R&D budget goes to general university funds.

The biggest share of the 2023 government budget allocations for R&D, namely 35.5%, was directed to the general advancement of knowledge, primarily financed by a public block grant known as public general university funds (GUF), which many public higher education institutions receive to support all their activities.

Additionally, 17.3% of the GBARD was dedicated to the general advancement of knowledge from other sources than GUF, followed by 11.0% for industrial production and technology, 6.9% for health and 6.0% for exploration and exploitation of space.