Research and Development Expenditure (updated for business enterprise expenditure in 2005)

Statistics showing 2005 business enterprise research and development (BERD) expenditure for the UK, including estimates by English region and UK country, were released on at 9:30am on 24 November 2006 by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).  The full release is available on the ONS website.

• In 2005, BERD expenditure for Wales was £231 million, unchanged in real terms on the figure for 2004, and up by 6% in real terms on the figure for 2003.  This represented 1.7% of the UK total.
• Between 2004 and 2005, BERD expenditure in the UK increased by 3% in real terms to £13.4 billion.
• BERD expenditure increased in real terms in six of the twelve UK countries and English regions between 2004 and 2005, the largest increase being in the Eastern region (up 20%).  Wales remained unchanged whilst the remaining five areas experienced falls, with London having the largest fall (down 22%).
• Note that in a small area, the level of BERD expenditure can be influenced greatly by individual projects commencing or ending in a small number of individual companies.  The BERD expenditure series for Wales is therefore quite volatile and so a longer-term perspective is of interest.  Between 1993 and 2005, BERD expenditure in Wales increased by 53% in real terms (or by an average of 4% per year).

Contact:
Tel: 029 2082 6369
E-mail: economic.stats@wales.gsi.gov.uk

Further Information:
The detailed dataset on StatsWales has been updated to include these new data.

Next Updates:
December 2006 for 2004 total research and development expenditure (including government and higher education) - to be confirmed on Due Out Soon page
August 2007 for 2005 total research and development expenditure (including government and higher education) - to be confirmed on Due Out Soon page
November 2007 for 2006 BERD expenditure - to be confirmed on Due Out Soon page