NORTH AMERICA AND WESTERN EUROPE EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE SOUTH AND WEST ASIA LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN ARAB STATES SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA CENTRAL ASIA 1.8% 1.9% 1. 1. 0.6% 0.5% 4. 4.1% 4.3% 3.6% 2.1% 1.1% 0.6% 4.8% 3.8% 3.8% 3.8% 2.3% 1.1% 0.6% 11.3% 10.9% 10.4% 10. 36.2% 37.7% 41.6% 40.1% 39.2% 38.9% 38.5% 38.6% Fact Sheet No. 49 June 2018 FS/2018/SCI/49 Human Resources in R&D The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) is the statistical office of UNESCO and is the UN depository for global statistics in the fields of education, science and technology, culture and communication. http://uis.unesco.org @UNESCOstat This fact sheet presents the latest UIS data on research and experimental development (R&D) available as of June 2018. Regional density of researchers and their field of employment In the drive to strengthen knowledge-based societies, policymakers need to ensure that their countries have an adequate supply of researchers. This fact sheet provides a global overview of countries with the highest concentration of researchers as well as a breakdown by region. Researchers are professionals engaged in the conception or creation of new knowledge. They conduct research and improve or develop concepts, theories, models, techniques instrumentation, software or operational methods (Frascati Manual, 2015). Figure 1 presents the distribution of researchers across the world by region in 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015. Figure 1. Where are researchers located? Shares of world researchers by principal regions, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015 2009 2011 2013 2015 45% 4 35% 3 25% 15% 5% Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates, February 2018.
2 UIS Fact Sheet No. 49 June 2018 Figures 2 and 3 illustrate the distribution of researchers per 1 million inhabitants. The data are expressed in full-time equivalents (FTE), which are a measure of the actual volume of human resources devoted to research and development (R&D). It is important to note when interpreting the data that headcounts (HC) were used for countries where FTE figures were not available. Figure 2. How many researchers are there? Researchers per million inhabitants, 2016 or latest year available Notes: The data presented in this map are based on FTE. However, HC is used for the following countries as data by FTE were not available: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bermuda, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cuba, Gabon, Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Libya,Mauritania, Mongolia, Nauru, Peru, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, and US Virgin Islands. This should be taken into consideration when interpreting the data.
NORTH AMERICA AND WESTERN EUROPE CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC WORLD CENTRAL ASIA LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN ARAB STATES SOUTH AND WEST ASIA SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 85 89 93 96 164 174 191 222 506 483 422 466 376 404 590 489 452 600 506 508 1,133 1,008 1,052 1,244 1,103 1,151 1,348 1,420 1,964 2,021 2,063 2,113 3,803 3,873 4,029 4,226 3 UIS Fact Sheet No. 49 June 2018 Figure 3. How many researchers are there? Researchers per 1 million inhabitants by region, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015 2009 2011 2013 2015 4,500 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates, February 2018. Figure 4 shows the world s leading countries (top 10) in terms of the number of researchers. Figure 4. Which countries host the greatest number of researchers? Number of researchers, 2016 or latest year available 277,631 183,853 282,994 291,416 361,292 400,821 1,692,176 CHINA UNITED STATES-1 JAPAN RUSSIAN FEDERATION GERMANY KOREA, REP. UNITED KINGDOM INDIA-1 FRANCE-1 BRAZIL-2 428,884 665,566 1,379,977 Notes: -1 = 2015; -2 = 2014; Data are based on FTE.
UNITED STATES-1 CANADA-2 PUERTO RICO-1 CHILE BRAZIL-2 MEXICO-3 VENEZUELA-1 HONDURAS-13* BERMUDA-1* ARGENTINA-1 COLOMBIA-1 URUGUAY BOLIVIA-6 PANAMA-5 GUATEMALA-1 EL SALVADOR-1 COSTA RICA-2 ECUADOR-2 PARAGUAY-1 PERU-1* TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO-1* NICARAGUA-12* 4 UIS Fact Sheet No. 49 June 2018 Figures 5, 6 and 7 illustrate the percentage of researchers by sector of employment expressed in FTE (or HC where data by FTE were unavailable). One FTE may be thought of as one person-year. Thus, a person who normally spends 3 of their time on R&D and the rest on other activities (such as teaching, university administration and student counseling) would be denoted as a 0.3 FTE. Similarly, if a full-time R&D worker is employed at an R&D unit for only six months, this results in an FTE of 0.5. Figure 5. A breakdown of researchers in the Americas Percentage of researchers by sector of employment (FTE), 2016 or latest year available Business enterprise Government Higher education Private non-profit Unknown 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 Notes: -1 = 2015, -2= 2014, -3 = 2013, -5 = 2011, -6= 2010, -12 = 2004, -13 = 2003. * = based on HC data.
SWEDEN AUSTRIA NETHERLANDS FRANCE-1 HUNGARY BELARUS* DENMARK GERMANY MALTA FINLAND SLOVENIA BELGIUM CZECH REPUBLIC SWITZERLAND-1 NORWAY TURKEY-1 RUSSIAN FEDERATION IRELAND ITALY BULGARIA UNITED KINGDOM LUXEMBOURG SPAIN ICELAND POLAND-1 PORTUGAL ESTONIA UKRAINE ROMANIA CYPRUS LITHUANIA CROATIA SLOVAKIA GREECE LATVIA TFYR MACEDONIA SERBIA MONTENEGRO-1 BOSNIA/HERZEGOVINA REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA ALBANIA-8 5 UIS Fact Sheet No. 49 June 2018 Figure 6. A breakdown of researchers in Europe Percentage of researchers by sector of employment (FTE), 2016 or latest year available Business enterprise Government Higher education Private non-profit Unknown 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 Notes: -1 = 2015, -8 = 2008. * = based on HC data.
SEYCHELLES* SOUTH AFRICA-1 KENYA-6 MOROCCO NAMIBIA-2 EGYPT ZAMBIA-8 MADAGASCAR* TUNISIA UGANDA-2 CENTRAL AFRICAN REP.-7* CAMEROON-8* SUDAN-11* BOTSWANA-3 GHANA-6 SWAZILAND-1 ETHIOPIA-3 MOZAMBIQUE-1 GUINEA-3* MALAWI-6 MAURITIUS-4 GAMBIA-5 MALI-1 BURKINA FASO-2* LESOTHO-1 TANZANIA-3 TOGO ANGOLA-5 NIGERIA-9 BURUNDI-5* CHAD ALGERIA-11 ZIMBABWE-4 CÔTE D'IVOIRE-11 SENEGAL-1 ISRAEL-4 KOREA, REP. JAPAN PHILIPPINES-3 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES CHINA THAILAND-1 SINGAPORE-2 CHINA, HONG KONG INDONESIA-7 LAO PDR-14 INDIA-1 SRI LANKA-2 VIET NAM-1 QATAR-1 KAZAKHSTAN* BRUNEI DARUSSALAM-13 IRAN, ISLAMIC REP.-8 UZBEKISTAN MALAYSIA-1 NEPAL-6* OMAN-1 KYRGYZSTAN* MONGOLIA* AZERBAIJAN* CAMBODIA-1 CHINA, MACAO JORDAN-1* IRAQ SAUDI ARABIA-3* BAHRAIN-2 ARMENIA* TAJIKISTAN* BANGLADESH-19* PALESTINE-3 KUWAIT-1 PAKISTAN-1 GEORGIA NEW ZEALAND-1 AUSTRALIA-8 PAPUA NEW GUINEA 6 UIS Fact Sheet No. 49 June 2018 Figure 7. A breakdown of researchers in Africa, Asia and the Pacific Percentage of researchers by sector of employment (FTE), 2016 or latest year available Business enterprise Government Higher education Private non-profit Unknown 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 Notes: -1= 2015, -2= 2014, -3 = 2013, -4 = 2012, -5 = 2011, -6 = 2010, -7 = 2009, -8 = 2008, -9= 2007, -11 = 2005, -13 = 2003, -14 = 2002, -19 = 1997. * = based on HC data. Please consult the UIS website http://uis.unesco.org to access the UIS database and subscribe to ealerts on the Institute s latest publications, data visualisations and data releases. For more information on R&D data, please consult the UNESCO eatlas of Research and Experimental Development at http://on.unesco.org/rd-map
7 UIS Fact Sheet No. 49 June 2018