Scoreboard
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The 2024 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard
The EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard monitors and benchmarks the performance of the EU’s leading industrial R&D investors against their… Show more global peers. Since 2004, the Scoreboard has been a reliable source of key insights and data for companies, researchers, and policy-makers. In 2023, the world’s top 2 000 R&D investors, headquartered across 40 countries and representing over 900,000 subsidiaries, collectively invested EUR 1 257 billion in R&D. This accounted for over 85% of global business-funded R&D. The top 50 companies alone contributed 40% of the total, indicating that a small number of companies control a significant portion of global business sector R&D investment. The top 2 000 includes 322 EU-based companies (18.7% of the total R&D investment), alongside 681 US firms (42.3%), 524 Chinese firms (17.1%), 185 Japanese firms (8.3%), and 288 companies from the rest of the world (13.5%), including the UK (63), Taiwan (55), South Korea (40), and Switzerland (39). Global R&D investment grew by 7.8% nominally (4.5% adjusted for inflation) in 2023, marking a slowdown compared to 2022 and 2021. EU firms led this growth, increasing R&D investments by 9.8% nominally, outpacing US companies (5.9%) for the second consecutive year and narrowing the R&D gap with the US. Moreover, for the first time in the Scoreboard’s history, the EU’s nominal R&D growth also surpassed that of China (9.6%). However, when adjusted for inflation, Chinese companies still lead real R&D investment growth (10.2%). Despite this increase, 2023 marked the 6th consecutive year of declining real R&D investment growth rates in China. Four sectors (ICT hardware, ICT software, health, and automotive) continued to account for more than three quarters of Scoreboard R&D. The EU led in automotive R&D, the US in ICT services, ICT producers, and health. China was in second place in ICT and health sectors with an increasing number of newcomers entering the ranking. The sectoral development in 2023 was mixed. Automotive R&D was a standout, adding EUR 25.1 billion globally (13.2% nominal rate), with EU, Chinese, and ROW companies increasing particularly strongly. In contrast, growth in ICT software slowed to 5.6%, its lowest since 2016. The health sector recorded its weakest growth since 2013, at 4.9%, while ICT hardware saw an 8% rise, above its long-term average. Of the top 800 R&D investing companies in the EU, most large R&D investors continue to be located in Germany, France and the Netherlands. In terms of sectoral composition, the majority of the EU 800 were outside the four top R&D sectors, indicating a broader sectoral base compared to the US. Some of the EU firms that strongly increased their R&D investment during the last decade have done so in technological areas such as biotech and semiconductors. Moreover, there are 99 SMEs in the EU sample, of which 75% are active in the pharmaceutical and biotech sector. Beyond the monitoring part, this year’s Scoreboard includes an analysis of the productivity of R&D investments and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity over the past 2 decades. The analysis shows that although R&D investments of Scoreboard firms still contributed positively to labour productivity and patenting, there is a global trend of diminishing returns on R&D investments for top R&D investors, suggesting that increasingly more R&D investments are required today than in the past in order to generate marketable products or new ideas. While the decrease in R&D productivity is a global phenomenon, EU-based Scoreboard firms show lower R&D productivity levels (in terms of generating sales and new ideas), and no signs of catching up with firms from regions (e.g. China and US) that exhibit higher R&D productivity. This suggests that merely pushing for more R&D investments by the EU private sector is insufficient as a sole policy measure. Improving R&D routines/processes, attracting and retaining top R&D talent, and crafting more effective policy instruments to steer R&D incentives towards impactful innovations are also needed. The M&A analysis shows that while both R&D investment and M&A activity separately can drive short-term gains in sales, employment, and profits, pursuing both simultaneously may lead to a substitutive effect, likely due to resource allocation issues. Additionally, no direct link was found between M&A activity and labour productivity. EU firms, in particular, are more likely to engage in M&A activities compared to their global peers, yet these efforts do not appear to translate into measurable productivity gains. Following open data practices, the underlying Scoreboard database is made publicly available online to allow stakeholders such as companies, policymakers, and researchers to undertake their own analyses. Show less
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The 2023 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard
The EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard monitors and benchmarks the performance of the EU’s leading industrial R&D investors against their… Show more peers globally. Over 20 years since its first edition, the Scoreboard has been a reliable source of key insights for companies, researchers and policy-makers. The 2023 Scoreboard lists and analyses both the world’s top 2 500 companies and the top 1 000 EU-based companies with the highest R&D investment in 2022. The top 2 500 have headquarters in 42 countries and over 1 million subsidiaries worldwide, with each company investing over EUR 53 million in R&D in 2022. Notably, the top 50 companies accounted for 40% of the total 2 500 R&D investment (EUR 1249.4 billion), showcasing a concentration of resources as has been consistent over the years. Despite economic uncertainties, EU companies demonstrated robust growth in R&D investments, outperforming the US for the first time since 2015. EU-based companies constituted 17.5% of the R&D total, with Germany, France, and the Netherlands hosting the majority of large EU R&D investors. Brexit reshaped the EU 1 000 sample, whereby places vacated by UK firms were mostly filled by firms from Germany, Sweden, and France. We did not find indications of Brexit-induced headquarter relocations in the Scoreboard sample. The Scoreboard's 20-year analysis revealed shifts in sectoral contributions. While EU strongholds such as industrials and automotive have witnessed declining R&D shares, ICT services and ICT producers led by the US gained significant ground. China is in second place in ICT and health sectors with an increasing number of newcomers entering the top 2 500. The Scoreboard's resilience analysis during economic crises highlighted the importance of R&D investments, contributing to accelerated sales, productivity growth, and environmental sustainability. Notably, recoveries post-financial and COVID-19 crises were quicker for US firms, led by strengths in ICT software, hardware, and health sectors. Beyond monitoring, the 2023 edition combines Scoreboard metrics with various analyses. Patent analysis focuses on green and clean transport technologies, the automotive industry is examined in a global value chain framework, and patents in advanced materials uncover deep tech potential of the Scoreboard companies. Additionally, a techno-economic ecosystem analysis explores the role of Scoreboard companies in artificial intelligence. The Scoreboard emphasises open data practices, making its database publicly available for stakeholders to conduct their benchmarking and monitoring exercises. Show less
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The 2022 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard
The main objective of the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard (the Scoreboard) is to benchmark the performance of EU innovation-driven… Show more industries against major global counterparts and to provide an R&D investment database that companies, investors and policymakers can use to compare individual company performances against the best global competitors in their sectors. The 2022 edition of the Scoreboard analyses the 2500 companies that invested the largest sums in R&D worldwide in 2021. These companies, with headquarters in 41 countries, and more than 900k subsidiaries all over the world, each invested over EUR 48.5 million in R&D in 2021. The total investment across all 2500 companies was EUR 1093.9 billion - an amount equivalent to 86% of the world’s business-funded R&D and passing the trillion Euro mark for the first time. The top 2500 includes 361 companies based in the EU, accounting for 17.6% of total R&D investment, 822 US companies (40.2%), 678 Chinese companies (17.9%), 233 Japanese companies (10.4%) and 406 from the rest of the world (RoW, 13.9% of R&D). The RoW group comprises companies from South Korea (53), Switzerland (55), UK (95), Taiwan (84) and companies based in a further 18 countries. At the global level, the Scoreboard shows the deepening of the global tech race in the four key sectors which account for more than three-quarters of the total Scoreboard R&D: ICT producers (22.6%), health industries (21.5%), ICT services (19.8%) and automotive (13.9%). R&D growth in the four key sectors was higher for US and Chinese than for EU Scoreboard companies. The extended sample of 1000 EU companies contains a substantial number of small- and medium-sized enterprises in health and ICT sectors with encouraging trends in 2021. This good base is an excellent enabler of the New European Innovation Agenda, which inter alia addresses firm creation and growth in emerging technologies and triggering spillovers between sectors. This report analyses companies' R&D, patents and other financial performance indicators over recent years, focusing on the comparative performance of EU companies and their global counterparts. A patent-based positioning of companies in green technologies (low-carbon technologies in energy-intensive industries and circular economy technologies) shows that EU and US Scoreboard companies lead in high-value patents, and the EU also leads in inventions relevant to circularity. Moreover, the present Scoreboard also analyses firm-level scores summarizing company performance in relevant UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). EU-based Scoreboard companies achieved the highest scores in most SDGs and showed progression across the board. From a sectoral perspective, Scoreboard companies operating in the automotive and chemical sectors achieved on average high SDG progression. The results of this report reveal challenges and opportunities for the EU as it seeks to improve its technology capabilities and reinvigorate its industrial base in the context of increasing global competition pressure and ongoing green and digital transformations. Show less
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The 2021 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard
The main objective of the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard (the Scoreboard) is to benchmark the performance of EU innovation-driven… Show more industries against major global counterparts and to provide an R&D investment database that companies, investors and policymakers can use to compare individual company performances against the best global competitors in their sectors. The 2021 edition of the Scoreboard analyses the 2500 companies that invested the largest sums in R&D worldwide in 2020. These companies, with headquarters in 39 countries, and more than 800k subsidiaries all over the world, each invested over €36 million in R&D in 2020. The total investment across all 2500 companies was €908.9bn, an amount equivalent to 90% of the world’s business-funded R&D. The top 2500 includes 401 companies based in the EU, accounting for 20% of the total, 779 US companies (38%), 597 Chinese companies (16%), 293 Japanese companies (12%) and 430 from the rest of the world (RoW, 14%). The RoW group comprises companies from South Korea (60), Switzerland (57), UK (105), Taiwan (86) and companies based in a further 15 countries. This report analyses companies' R&D, patents and other financial performance indicators over recent years, focusing on the comparative performance of EU companies and their global counterparts. Moreover, it includes a patent-based analysis showing the positioning of the EU in green technology for energy intensive industries; and a study exploring the role of the Scoreboard companies in achieving the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs). In 2020, the pandemic hit global business hard causing a significant drop in companies’ sales, profits and capital expenditures. However, overall R&D investment was sustained by increases in sectors positively affected by the crisis, namely ICT services and Health industries while most other sectors decreased R&D investment, particularly the transport-related industries that have been most strongly affected by the lockdown. The results of this report highlight the challenges and opportunities facing the EU as it seeks to improve its R&D capability and reinvigorate its industrial base, in line with the priorities of the new industrial and innovation EU policy, particularly in the context of the digital and green transitions. Show less
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The 2020 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard
The main objective of the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard (the Scoreboard) is to benchmark the performance of EU innovation-driven… Show more industries against main global counterparts. The 2020 edition of the Scoreboard analyses the 2500 companies investing the largest sums in R&D in the world in 2019. A main difference in the presentation of data in this Scoreboard edition regards the new composition of the EU following the departure of the UK on 31 January 2020. Henceforth, in this report, the EU is understood as EU27 (i.e. without the UK). The 2020 Scoreboard total R&D is equivalent to approximately 90% of the world’s business-funded R&D. The sample includes 421 companies based in the EU, accounting for 20.9% of the total R&D in the sample, 775 US companies (38.5%), 309 Japanese companies (12.7%), 536 Chinese (13.1%) and 459 from the rest of the world (14.8%). This is the tenth consecutive year of R&D increases driven by R&D investments in ICT, Health and Automotive industries. Companies based in the EU increased significantly R&D (5.6%) but well below the US (10.8%) and Chinese companies (21%) rates. Show less
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The 2019 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard
The 2019 edition of the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard (the Scoreboard) comprises the 2500 companies investing the largest sums… Show more in R&D in the world in 2018/19. These companies, based in 44 countries, each invested over €30 million in R&D for a total of €823.4bn which is approximately 90% of the world’s business-funded R&D. They include 551 EU companies accounting for 25% of the total, 769 US companies for 38%, 318 Japanese companies for 13%, 507 Chinese for 12% and 355 from the rest-of-the-world (RoW) for 12%. This report analyses the main changes in companies' R&D and economic indicators over the past year and their performance over the past ten years. It also includes patent-based analyses aimed at characterising further the R&D efficiency of the business health sector and the activity of the Scoreboard companies in the field of environmental technologies. Show less
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The 2018 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard
The 2018 edition of the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard (the Scoreboard) comprises the 2500 companies investing the largest sums… Show more in R&D in the world in 2017/18. These companies, based in 46 countries, each invested over €25 million in R&D for a total of €736.4bn which is approximately 90% of the world's business-funded R&D. They include 577 EU companies accounting for 27% of the total, 778 US companies for 37%, 339 Japanese companies for 14%, 438 Chinese for 10% and 368 from the rest-of-the-world (RoW) for 12%. The top 2500 Scoreboard companies invested in R&D €736.4bn in 2017/18, an increase of 8.3% with respect to the previous period. Companies also raised most financial indicators: net sales reversed the negative trend shown since 2011, increasing more than the R&D investment (9.8%); overall profits showed an impressive growth of 22.6%; capital expenditures recovered after 3 negative years (5.1%) and the number of employees continued to increase at a modest pace (2.1%). Worldwide R&D growth was driven by the ICT services and producers sectors (13% and 11% respectively), followed by the Health sector (7.7%) while the lowest R&D performance was shown by the Industrials sector (3.3%) and by Aerospace & Defence (-4.3%). The growth in net sales was led by oil-related companies due to the recovery of oil prices but significant increases were reported also in Automobiles, ICT industries and in the Industrials sector. The overall increase of profits was mostly due to oil-related companies but profits' growth of more than 20% were reported by ICT producers and Aerospace & Defence sectors while Health industries showed a decline in profits. The increases in Capex were observed especially in the ICT producers sector and also in oil-related companies. The 577 companies based in the EU invested €200.1bn in R&D, an important increase in this period (5.5%) although at a lower pace than in the previous year (6.7%). The Japanese companies presented a similar R&D growth rate than their EU counterparts (5.8%) while companies based in the US and China showed a much higher R&D growth rates (9.0% and 20.0% respectively). Worldwide an important sector shift occurred in ICT industries, mainly in ICT services that increased their R&D share from 10.8% to 14.2% but also in ICT producers (from 23.0% to 23.7%). On the other hand, sectors that underwent a decreases in R&D shares were mainly low-tech sectors and also, to a lesser extent, Industrials, Aerospace & Defence and Chemicals. EU companies reinforced their specialisation in medium-high tech sectors, increasing significantly their R&D contribution to the global R&D of Automobiles by more than 6 percentage points. In contrast, EU companies reduced their global R&D share in ICT industries by more than 8 percentage points and to a lesser extent in low tech and Chemicals sectors. In line with the R&D shift, the net sales of EU companies increased their global weight in Automobiles, Aerospace & Defence and Health industries while decreasing it sharply in ICT industries and to a lesser extent in low tech. Show less
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The 2017 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard
The 2017 edition of the EU R&D Scoreboard (the Scoreboard) comprises the 2500 companies investing the largest sums in R&D… Show more in the world in 2016/17. These companies, based in 43 countries, each invested over €24m in R&D for a total of €741.6bn which is approximately 90% of the world's business-funded R&D. They include 567 EU companies accounting for 26% of the total, 822 US companies for 39%, 365 Japanese companies for 14%, 376 Chinese for 8% and the rest-of-the-world (RoW) for 13%. Worldwide, companies' R&D investment increased by 5.8% over the previous year, the sixth consecutive year of significant increases. The companies headquartered in the EU increased their R&D investments more than the global average up to 7.0%. This increase is similar to the US (7.2%) and substantially above Japan (-3.0%). Chinese companies increased their R&D investment by 18.8%. R&D growth was driven by ICT services (+11.7%), followed by Health and ICT producers (6.9% and 6.8% respectively). These three sectors, together with Automobiles, account for 75% of the total R&D of the 2500 companies in the Scoreboard. R&D investment of companies in the Automobiles and Aerospace & Defence sectors grew at a lower pace (2.7% and 2.2%, respectively), whereas that of Chemicals companies decreased (-1.9%). In the EU, R&D growth was driven by the same sectors as worldwide, i.e. ICT producers (+14.4%), ICT services (+12.7%), Health industries (+7.9%) and Automobiles (+6.7%). However, companies from a few important sectors for the EU economy decreased their R&D, in particular Aerospace & Defence (-5.4%) and to a lesser extent Chemicals (-0.8%). The 2017 Scoreboard includes an analysis of the 10-year economic and R&D performance of the top R&D investors showing that: The EU share of world R&D remained constant at 26%, whereas at sector level, significant changes in EU's R&D shares are observed, namely an increase in the Automobiles sector (from 36% to 44%) and a decrease in Aerospace & Defence (from 48% to 42%). Compared to their non-EU counterparts, EU companies outperform or perform comparably in size (of R&D and sales) and R&D intensity for Aerospace & defence, Automobiles and Pharmaceuticals. But in Biotechnology, Software and IT hardware the EU shows persistent weaknesses in most indicators such as size and R&D/firm or sales/firm (in particular compared to US companies). The EU/non-EU gap in these latter three sectors has widened over the last ten years. In terms of productivity (net sales/employee ratio), EU and US companies showed similar overall performance (ca. 14% increase in both net sales and employment). However, at sector level, contrasting productivity changes are observed, e.g. in Automobiles, EU 17% vs. US -15%; in ICT sectors, EU -1% vs. US 31% and in low tech sectors, EU -10% vs. US -33%. Show less
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The 2016 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard
The 2016 edition of the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard (the Scoreboard) analyses the 2500 companies investing the largest sums… Show more in R&D in the world in the fiscal year 2015/16. It comprises companies based in the EU (590), the US (837), Japan (356), China (327), Taiwan (111), South Korea (75), Switzerland (58) and further 20 countries. This Scoreboard edition shows significant worldwide rise of corporate R&D, driven by high-tech industries while revenues declined mostly due to low-tech sectors. The top 2500 Scoreboard firms invested in R&D €696bn in 2015/16, an increase of 6.6% over the previous year. EU companies increased R&D above both the world's and US's growth rates and Asian companies continued to show substantial R&D growth but a slowing of revenue growth. R&D Growth was driven by companies operating in the largest R&D-investing industries (ICT, health and auto), that also increased significantly net sales, while the overall fall in net sales was mostly due to low world oil and commodity prices. The Software industry showed the highest R&D growth worldwide led by global software firms. Global R&D is concentrated with the top 100 global R&D investors accounting for 53.1% of the R&D of the whole top 2500 and the top 50 companies accounting for 40%. Among the top 50 R&D investors, there are 15 EU companies, same as in last ranking and 30 firms among top 100, one more than last year. Show less
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The 2015 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard
The 2015 EU R&D Scoreboard (the Scoreboard) reports economic and financial information on the world's top 2500 companies that invested… Show more €607.2 billion in R&D over the last fiscal year (2014). It comprises 608 companies based in the EU, 829 companies based in the US, 360 in Japan and 703 from the rest of the world. Key findings from the 2015 Scoreboard include: In 2014, the top world 2500 R&D Scoreboard companies raised their R&D by 6.8%, while revenues continued to grow at a significant lower pace (2.2%). Companies based in the EU showed an annual R&D investment growth rate of 3.3%, slightly improving the previous year's performance (2.5%). Companies based in the US showed a stronger R&D investment growth rate (8.1%). The Chinese companies, 3rd largest country by number of companies in this edition, increased R&D investments by 23.6%. Companies in the ICT, Pharmaceuticals and Automobiles sectors continue to dominate the top 10 places in the world ranking. As in the previous edition, the top 5 R&D investors are Volkswagen, Samsung, Microsoft, Intel and Novartis. The most significant changes at the top of the ranking in 2014 are the climb of Google to 6th place (from 9th), and of Pfizer to the 10th place (from 15th). Huawei (15th) and Apple (18th) accelerated in 2014 their race to the top, jumping 11 and 17 positions respectively. An analysis of the patent portfolios of the world's top R&D investors shows that EU and US companies have the highest degrees of internationalisation of their inventive activities: 26% and 22% of their patent families are developed by inventors located outside the region. While the US appear to be the preferred location for health related inventions (pharma and biotech in particular), Europe is the most attractive place for the inventive activities of automobile companies. Show less