Hanmedia: China and the United States lead global R&D, while South Korea remains stagnant!
On September 26, the South Korean media "Hanjung Economy" published an article stating that in the top 100 companies ranked by R&D investment, more than half are from the United States and China. South Korean local enterprises such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, LG Electronics, and Hyundai Motor also continuously appear in the top 100.
The Korea Institute for Industrial Technology (KIAT) recently released the "2023 Global R&D Investment Status Report", which shows that among the top 2000 companies with the largest R&D investment globally in 2023, the United States had 681 companies, ranking first, followed by China (524 companies), Japan (185 companies), and Germany (106 companies). South Korea had 40 companies, ranking eighth. The total R&D investment of the 2000 global companies reached 1.2574 trillion euros, of which the United States accounted for 42.3%. Among the 2000 companies, South Korea's R&D investment amounted to 42.5 billion euros, accounting for 3.4%.
In the top 10 companies ranked by R&D investment from 2020 to 2023, Alphabet has been at the top for four consecutive years. Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, LG Electronics, and Hyundai Motor Company have all been continuously ranked in the top 100 companies by R&D investment from 2020 to 2023.
R&D investment in the United States and China is increasing, while South Korea's R&D investment seems to be slowing down. According to the "R&D Investment Trends of Six Major Countries Based on OECD Data" released by the Korea Institute for Industrial Technology, the annual growth rate of total R&D spending in the United States over five years (2019-2023) was 7.1%, accounting for 32% of the total of the six countries. The annual growth rate of China's total R&D spending was 11%, and its share increased from 25.9% in 2019 to 30.8% in 2023. In comparison, South Korea's total R&D spending grew by 6.47%, ranking third after China and the United States, but its share decreased from 5.0% in 2019 to 4.8% in 2023.
Over the past ten years (2014-2023), the annual growth rate of R&D investment by South Korean companies was 7.3%, higher than that of public research institutions (6.2%). However, due to a decrease in the number of small and medium-sized enterprises (-4,782 companies), the number of R&D companies (57,344 companies) in 2023 decreased by 5.7% compared to the previous year.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1844292278146112/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.