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Summary of Results (2024)
Results of the Survey of Research and Development
R&D Expenditure
Japan's total expenditure on R&D during fiscal year (FY) 2023 stood at 22.05 trillion yen, a 6.5 percent increase from the previous fiscal year. This figure is the highest ever.
Expenditure on R&D as a percentage of GDP was 3.70 percent, a 0.05 percentage point increase from the previous fiscal year.
As looking by research sector, R&D expenditure of business enterprises stood at 16.12 trillion yen, with a 6.5 percent increase from the previous fiscal year, that of universities and colleges stood at 3.94 trillion yen, with a 2.5 percent increase from the previous fiscal year, and that of non-profit institutions and public organizations stood at 1.99 trillion yen, with a 15.1 percent increase from the previous fiscal year.
Within the business enterprises sector, the R&D expenditures by industry division was the largest for "Transportation equipment" at 4.44 trillion yen (a 10.6 percent increase from the previous fiscal year), followed by "Medicines"at 1.54 trillion yen (a 7.6 percent increase from the previous fiscal year), and "Electronic parts, devices and electronic circuits" at 1.37 trillion yen (a 11.3 percent increase from the previous fiscal year).
R&D Personnel
As of 31 March 2024, the total number of researchers is 907,400, a 0.3 percent decrease from the previous year. It dropped for the first time in eight years,
The R&D expenditures in FY2023 per researcher was 24.30 million yen, a 6.9 percent increase from the previous fiscal year.
It has increased for three consecutive years.
