R&D Spending Rises to TRY 81.922 Billion

TÜİK, Turkey's statistics authority, released its 2021 Research and Development Activities Survey. Gross domestic R&D expenditure rose by TRY 26 billion 965 million compared to the previous year, reaching TRY 81 billion 922 million in 2021. Gross domestic R&D expenditure as a share of GDP increased from 1.09% in 2020 to 1.13% in 2021, against a GDP of TRY 7 trillion 248 billion 789 million. Financial and non-financial enterprises held the largest share of R&D expenditure at 70.7%, followed by higher education at 23.7%. General government R&D expenditure, including R&D spending by non-profit organisations, accounted for 5.6% of total R&D expenditure. Personnel costs represented the largest expenditure item at 49.5% of total R&D spending.

Financial and non-financial enterprises led R&D financing at 62.4%

In 2021, 62.4% of R&D expenditure was financed by financial and non-financial enterprises, while general government R&D expenditure accounted for 25.1%, higher education 10.6%, foreign sources 1.9%, and other domestic sources approximately 0.04%.  

221,811 R&D personnel employed in full-time equivalent terms

In 2021, a total of 221,811 persons worked as R&D personnel in full-time equivalent (FTE) terms. By sector distribution, 67.4% of total R&D personnel in FTE terms worked in financial and non-financial enterprises, 28.2% in higher education, and 4.4% in general government including non-profit organisations.

Share of female R&D personnel in FTE terms reached 32.1%

The number of female R&D personnel in FTE terms totalled 71,301 persons in 2021, representing 32.1% of total R&D personnel. By sector, the share of female R&D personnel in FTE terms was 45.7% in higher education, 30.4% in general government including non-profit organisations, and 26.6% in financial and non-financial enterprises.  

34.9% of R&D personnel held a bachelor's degree

When R&D personnel were examined by educational attainment, 34.9% of R&D personnel held a bachelor's degree. This was followed by 31.2% holding a doctoral degree or equivalent, 24.3% holding a master's degree, 4.8% holding a vocational higher education degree, and 4.8% holding high school or below. The distribution of R&D personnel in FTE terms by educational attainment was as follows: 48.0% bachelor's degree, 20.7% master's degree, 18.3% doctoral degree or equivalent, 6.7% vocational higher education, and 6.3% high school or below.  

Highest R&D expenditure in TR51 (Ankara) region

According to Statistical Regional Units Classification (NUTS) Level 2, in 2021 the region with the highest R&D expenditure was TR51 (Ankara), accounting for 31.9% of total R&D expenditure, followed by TR10 (Istanbul) at 28.5% and TR42 (Kocaeli, Sakarya, Düzce, Bolu, Yalova) at 9.8%. Total R&D personnel were employed as follows: 29.5% in TR10 (Istanbul), 19.3% in TR51 (Ankara), and 8.0% in TR42 (Kocaeli, Sakarya, Düzce, Bolu, Yalova).  

Highest R&D expenditure conducted by high-technology enterprises

When enterprises engaged in R&D activities in manufacturing were classified by technology level, in 2021 47.5% of the TRY 32 billion 773 million in R&D expenditure realised in manufacturing was conducted by enterprises in high-technology activities. This share was 35.3% in 2015. Of total R&D expenditure in manufacturing, 39.6% was conducted by medium-high-technology enterprises, 8.3% by medium-low-technology enterprises, and 4.6% by low-technology enterprises. When examining the number of researchers in enterprises engaged in R&D activities in manufacturing, in 2021 the largest number of researchers, 24,630 persons, were employed by medium-high-technology enterprises. This was followed by high-technology enterprises employing 16,720 researchers. When considering researcher numbers in FTE terms, the highest value of 22,299 was found in medium-high-technology enterprises.