South Korea Invests More Than the US, China, and Japan... Ranks 2nd Globally in R&D Expenditure as Share of GDP

Japan Releases 2026 Science and Technology Indicators
R&D Expenditure Rises 11% to 131 Trillion Won in 2024
Total R&D-to-GDP Ratio Reaches 5.13%

South Korea ranked second in the world for research and development (R&D) expenditure as a share of gross domestic product (GDP). Experts note that, as the country’s economy grows, the proportion of GDP invested in R&D has steadily increased. However, the number of “top 10% adjusted papers”—those classified as highly cited and recognized for their impact—ranked only eighth in the world.

On September 9, the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP), under the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, published its "2026 Science and Technology Indicators" report. According to the report, total R&D expenditure in South Korea in 2024—including funding from the government, corporations, universities, and non-profit organizations—amounted to 131.0462 trillion won (15.2965 trillion yen). This represents an 11.0% increase from the previous year.

Cover of the 2026 Science and Technology Indicators Report published by the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP) under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. NISTEP.

The ratio of total R&D expenditure to GDP was 5.13%, the second-highest among the 24 countries and regions surveyed, following Israel at 6.76%. Sweden (3.56%), the United States (3.44%), and Japan (according to OECD estimates, 3.44%) followed. This level is significantly higher than that of the European Union (2.13%) and China (2.69%).

NISTEP commented, “South Korea ranks first among major countries,” adding that “as the economic scale expands, the ratio of total R&D expenditure to GDP is also rising significantly.”

R&D expenditure in South Korea has continued to increase over the long term. Using the year 2000 as a baseline, the country’s nominal R&D expenditure in 2024 is 9.5 times higher after 24 years. This is the second-largest increase among major nations after China (which saw a 40.6-fold expansion). Even after adjusting for price changes, real R&D expenditure grew 5.7-fold during the same period, again ranking second only to China (19.9-fold), and far surpassing the United States (2.2-fold), Germany (1.7-fold), Japan (1.5-fold), and France (1.4-fold).

Corporate investment has been the main driver of South Korea’s R&D funding. Corporations accounted for 78.5% of all R&D expenditure, while the government contributed 20.5%. The share directly paid by universities was only 0.4%. However, the government funded 80% of the R&D budget actually used by universities, indicating that university research in South Korea is heavily dependent on government resources. NISTEP noted that around 40% of government R&D spending flows into public institutions, and the government plays a significant role in funding research performed at universities.

Meanwhile, South Korea produced an annual average of 4,460 “top 10% adjusted papers” between 2022 and 2024, accounting for a 2.1% share of global output and placing the country eighth among the 20 countries surveyed. These “top 10% adjusted papers” are defined as those whose citation counts place them in the top 10% within their respective fields and years—a key metric for measuring research impact. In South Korea, materials science and chemistry contributed a particularly large proportion of these papers. China led the world with 84,392 papers (40.6%), followed by the United States with 29,911 (14.4%). The United Kingdom (3.7%), India (3.6%), Germany (3.1%), Italy (2.8%), and Australia (2.3%) all recorded higher shares than South Korea.

When it came to “top 1% adjusted papers,” which refer to those cited in the top 1% globally, South Korea ranked ninth. However, NISTEP noted that citation counts are influenced by factors such as research field size, trends, and international networks, and do not directly indicate the intrinsic quality or societal value of the research.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.