Solid growth in R&D activity

Adjusted for price change, the R&D expenditure in business enterprises increased by 7 per cent, according to new figures from the statistics Research and development in the business enterprise sector.

R&D expenditures in the business enterprise sector amounted to 0.97 per cent of GDP in 2017, compared with 0.95 per cent the year before.

The final figures are somewhat lower than the preliminary figures published in October 2018.

More R&D to the fish farming industry

Figures for 2017 show a clear increase in R&D efforts in aquaculture. Looking back at 2007 shows that R&D expenditure in the fishing and aquaculture industry, as a whole, has tripled. Until 2013, R&D efforts were relatively stable, and this has been followed by strong growth in recent years.

In comparison, crude oil and gas extraction, another large industry, has grown by 32 per cent since 2007. This industry peaked in 2013 and has subsequently experienced some decline in R&D. The level of spending is nevertheless still high and amounted to NOK 1.7 billion in 2017. Meanwhile, the fishing and aquaculture industry spent NOK 1.1 billion in R&D.

More purchases of R&D services

Business enterprises bought R&D services externally to the tune of NOK 7.5 billion in 2007, which is an increase of 7 per cent compared with 2016. There was a growth in purchases from both Norway and abroad. However, purchases from Norwegian research institutes, universities and colleges dropped by 9 per cent and amounted to NOK 1.4 billion in 2017.

Enterprises with 5-9 employees in 2017

The R&D costs of NOK 32 billion comprise of the costs of enterprises with at least 10 employees. In addition to the total R&D costs of NOK 32 billion, enterprises with 5-9 employees carried out R&D worth around NOK 2.8 billion in 2017. These enterprises purchased R&D services from other companies to the tune of NOK 380 million.

Enterprises with 5-9 employees are included in the survey every other year and were last covered by the survey for 2015. In order to ensure comparability over time, the other figures in this report apply to enterprises with at least 10 employees. Figures for enterprises with 5-9 employees are published in Statbank.