India lags far behind China, US in R&D: report

Washington: India lags far behind in field of scientific research and development globally which is led by the United States, while China exhibited the most dramatic R&D spending growth pattern, an official American report has said. Worldwide R&D performance (measured as expenditures) totalled an estimated $1,435 billion in 2011, which is the latest global total available. The comparable figure for 2001 was $753 billion, which reflected a brisk, 6.7 per cent average annual growth over a decade, said the report released yesterday by the National Science Board. The American R&D increased to USD 407 billion in 2010 and to $424 billion in 2011. At just under 30 percent of the global total in 2011, the United States remains, by far, the world?s largest R&D performer. Nonetheless, with other countries also expanding their investments in R&D, the US share has declined since 2001, when it was 37 percent, the report said. However, it is China which has continued to exhibit the most dramatic R&D growth pattern during this period. At $208 billion of R&D expenditures in 2011, China is the world?s second-largest R&D performer. [caption id=“attachment_552750” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] India and China flags are seen in this file photo. Reuters[/caption] While this is less than half the US level, the growth in China?s R&D spending has averaged an exceptionally high 20.7 percent annually in 2001-11. India’s figure was a mere $24 billion in 2007, the latest available figure in the report. Annual growth rate for US R&D averaged 4.3 percent over the same period. Corresponding average annual growth rates for the largest R&D countries of the EU (Germany, France, United Kingdom) are in the three percent to six percent range.  According to the report, the economies of East/Southeast and South Asia- including China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan- represented 25 percent of the global R&D total in 2001 but accounted for 34 percent in 2011. China (15 percent) and Japan (10 percent) were the largest R&D performers in this group, it said. After the United States and China, Japan with $147 billion is the third largest spender in R&D. The largest EU performers spend comparatively less: Germany ($93 billion, seven percent), France ($52 billion, four percent), and the United Kingdom ($10 billion, three percent). R&D spending by South Korea has also been rising in recent years and accounted for four per cent ($60 billion) of the global total in 2011. “Taken together, these top seven countries account for about 72 percent of total global R&D. The Russian Federation, Taiwan, Brazil, Italy, Canada, India, Australia and Spain make up the next tier of performers, with total R&D expenditures ranging from $20 billion to $35 billion. The top seven countries, along with the second group of eight economies, together account for 84 percent of current global R&D,” the report added. PTI