26 research and development efforts in France

France’s gross domestic expenditure on research and development has doubled since 1982 and accounted for 2.23% of GDP (€46.5 billion) in 2012. Businesses alone implemented 65% of R&D expenditure and funded 59% of gross national expenditure on R&D.

In 2012, research and experimental development (R&D) carried out within France accounted for €46.5 billion in expenditure, 2.23% of the country’s national wealth (gross domestic product or GDP). Once adjusted to take account of price changes, gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) increased by 1.9% between 2011 and 2012. Businesses accounted for 65% of France’s GERD (table 26.01). In 2013, GERD should increase only slightly (+ 0.5% in real terms) due to stagnating government expenditure and a slowdown in spending by businesses. Total GERD is therefore expected to reach €47.2 billion (2.23% of GDP).

In 2012, funding of R&D by French businesses and government (gross national expenditure on R&D or GNERD) totalled €48.4 billion, equivalent to 2.32% of France’s national wealth (GDP). Businesses remained the primary source of funding for R&D in 2012, accounting for 59% of GNERD.

Between 1981 and 1993, R&D expenditure in France increased at a faster rate (4.0% a year on average in real terms) than GDP (2.1%). This trend subsequently reversed, with GERD rising by 1.4% a year on average between 1993 and 2008, while GDP continued to increase by 2.1%. In 2011, GDP returned to its 2008 level following a fall in 2009 (chart 26.02). Over the last 3 years between 2009 and 2012, R&D expenditure has increased by one percentage point more (on average 2.6% a year in real terms) than GDP (1.5%). While government R&D expenditure increased at a rate slightly lower than that of GDP (1.3%), business enterprise R&D expenditure rose by 3.3%.

Over the past ten years (2002-2012), the average annual increase in intramural business enterprise expenditure on R&D (BERD) (1.6%) in real terms was greater than intramural government expenditure on R&D (GOVERD) (1.0%). The gap between businesses and government was even more marked when it came to the increase in GNERD, with business expenditure rising by 2.6% a year on average between 2002 and 2012, as compared with 0.7% for government expenditure. Since 1995, the contribution made by businesses to R&D funding has been greater than that of government (chart 26.03).

The difference between France’s total GERD and total GNERD represents the balance of R&D trade between France and other countries, including international organisations (table 26.01). In 2012, funding received from abroad and from international organisations (€3.5 billion) accounted for 7.6% of GERD financing. This was less than that spent by the French government and French businesses abroad (€5.4 billion). The government’s balance of trade with other countries was largely negative (€1.5 billion), whereas that for businesses was only €0.4 billion. The key international stakeholders, excluding major industrial groups such as Airbus Group, were the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Union (EU) and the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN).

With 2.23% of GDP dedicated to intramural research in 2012, France did not meet the 3% target set by the EU as part of the Europe 2020 strategy or its own target. It ranked 5th among the OECD’s six largest countries in terms of GERD (chart 26.04), behind South Korea (4.4%), Japan (3.4%), Germany (3.0%) and the United States (2.8%), but ahead of the United Kingdom (1.7%). Within the EU, it was the countries with medium-sized economies that devoted the largest proportion of their GDP to R&D: Finland (3.6%) and Sweden (3.4%).

Catherine David