27 research and experimental development efforts in France

France’s gross domestic expenditure on research and experimental development (GERD) has doubled since 1983 and accounted for 2.24% of GDP (€47.5 billion) in 2013. Businesses alone implemented 65% of R&D expenditure in France and funded 59% of gross national expenditure on R&D.

Overall expenditure on research and experimental development (R&D) is valued either in terms of funding by the French government and businesses, and performed mostly but not exclusively on French territory, or in terms of performance by the French government and businesses on French territory, taking into account foreign funding (see definitions).

In 2013, funding of R&D by French businesses or the government, known as gross national expenditure on R&D (GNERD), accounted for €49.4 billion, i.e. 2.34% of the country’s national wealth (GDP). In 2013, businesses were the main funders of R&D activities, funding 59% of GNERD (diagram 27.01).

In 2013, research and development (R&D) carried out in the national territory represented €47.5 billion in expenditure, or 2.24% of national wealth (GDP). In real terms, i.e. corrected by price effects, domestic expenditure on research and development (GERD) increased by 1.3% between 2012 and 2013. Businesses were responsible for 65% of this (table 27.02). In 2014, the increase in GERD should be more moderate (+ 0.7% in volume), with lower growth in both business and government expenditure, but greater than that of GDP (0.2%). Total GERD should reach €48.1bn and R&D efforts should increase (2.26% of GDP).

Over the last 3 years, between 2010 and 2013, growth in research expenditure (2.0% on average per year, in real terms) is greater than GDP by one point (1.1%), thanks to the change in business expenditure (2.8%). By contrast, the growth in government expenditure (0.8%) is lower than that of GDP (1.1%) (chart 27.03).

Over the last ten years, average annual growth in real terms between 2003 and 2013 in business GERD was higher than for the government (2.1% compared to 1.2%).

The difference between business and government is even greater in terms of the change in GNERD with an average annual increase of 3.1% for business between 2003 and 2013, compared to 1.0% for government. Since 1995, the financial contribution of business has been greater than that of government (chart 27.04) but its share is a little below the average for OECD countries.

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 27.02). In 2013, funding received from abroad and from international organisations (€3.8 billion) accounted for 8.0% of GERD financing. This was less than that spent by the French government and French businesses abroad (€5.8 billion). The government’s balance of trade with other countries was largely negative (-€1.8 billion), whereas for businesses it was only -€0.1 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 2.24% of GDP dedicated to domestic research in 2013, France did not meet the 3% target set by the EU as part of the Europe 2020 strategy or its own target, as part of the national research strategy (SNR). It ranked 5th among the OECD’s six largest countries in terms of GERD (chart 27.05), behind South Korea (4.1%), Japan (3.5%), Germany (2.9%) and the United States (2.7%), but ahead of the United Kingdom (1.6%), Spain and Italy. Within the EU, it was the countries with medium-sized economies that devoted the largest proportion of their GDP to R&D: Finland (3.3%) and Sweden (3.3%).

Catherine David