Cover of higher education & research in France, facts and figures
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Insee

Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques
18 boulevard Adolphe Pinard, 75675 Paris Cédex 14

This source is used in these chapters:

In 2013, there were 2,430,100 students, 8 times as many as in 1960. Today, a little over six students in every ten are enrolled at university. However, in the last 10 years, most of this dynamism has been concentrated in private higher education. In 2013 this sector accounted for almost 18% of all students. [read more]

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. [read more]

In 2012, SMEs accounted for 86% of enterprises carrying out R&D work in France. They represented 16% of intramural business enterprise R&D expenditure (BERD), half of which was invested in the service sector. Large enterprises, which accounted for 59% of BERD, focused three quarters of their R&D efforts in the high and medium-high technology industries. [read more]

In 2013, local authorities devoted €1.3 billion to funding research and technology (R&T). This funding went in large part towards property and technology transfer transactions. Regional councils accounted for 68% of this funding, while public establishments for cooperation between local authorities increased their contribution. [read more]

Businesses provide the majority (60%) of funding for gross national expenditure on R&D, with businesses based in France financing around 55% of the country’s gross domestic expenditure on R&D. This level of funding by the private sector is much lower than that recorded in Japan, Germany and the United States. [read more]

In 2011, almost 197,000 researchers were involved in R&D activity in business enterprises. This is a young population, with half aged under 38. The proportion of women is still low (20%). The majority of researchers in business enterprises hold an engineering diploma. Only 12% have a PhD. Women are strongly represented in medical and biological sciences. [read more]


 
 
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