R&D Monitoring

DATA	The 2025 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard	The 2024 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard	ALL R&D Investment Scoreboard

The EU Survey on Industrial R&D Investment Trends

From 2006 to 2022, the survey tracked annual changes in business R&D investment among the EU's top 1,000 R&D investors, covering investment trends, technology strategies, and acquisition processes. It remains a valuable reference for companies and analysts monitoring corporate R&D activity. All survey editions are available here.

The 2022 EU Survey on Industrial R&D Investment Trends	The 2021 EU Survey on Industrial R&D Investment Trends	The 2020 EU Survey on Industrial R&D Investment Trends	ALL EU Survey on Industrial R&D  Investment Trends

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Policymakers need to continuously monitor industrial R&D investments in order to assess the impact of their policy decisions and take further action. The long-term competitiveness strategy [COM(2023)168 final] acknowledges research and innovation as some of the key drivers of industrial competitiveness. In this perspective, the strategy sets the of investing 3% of the EU member states’ GDP in R&D activities. However, EU R&I investment falls short of its aspirations and compares poorly to global competitors (2.2% of GDP, well below the 3% objective). Private sector R&D spending accounts for less than 60% of the overall R&D spending, lagging behind global peers like the US and China. Therefore, the September 2024 Draghi report (https://commission.europa.eu/topics/eu-competitiveness/draghi-report_en) urges EU policy measures to regain global competitiveness, requiring annual investment into the new competitiveness strategy of EUR 750-800 billion, mostly from the private sector. Based on this, the February 2025 Competitiveness Compass (COM(2025) 30 final) places innovation and removing barriers at the heart of European renewal. It sets out a roadmap for European policies, in parallel to the preparation of the next Framework Programme and expected long-term budgetary decisions for the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework. Our monitoring and analyses of the performance and positioning of the largest R&D investing companies in the world have supported the diagnostics and narratives of these important policy initiatives since 2004.