Total expenditure on research and development in 2011 was €47.4 million, or 0.72 per cent of the gross domestic product.

This was €5.4 million (13 per cent) more than in the previous year.

The business enterprise sector contributed 66.4 per cent to total R&D, whereas the higher education and government sectors contributed 30 and 3.6 per cent, respectively.

The highest rate of R&D activity was recorded in engineering and technology, accounting for 37.3 per cent of total expenditure, followed by natural sciences (21.7 per cent) and medical sciences (20.6 per cent).

Year-on-year comparisons show that all fields of science registered higher R&D expenditure, the major increases being recorded in natural and medical sciences, by 18.8 per cent and 12.3 per cent, respectively.

In 2011, 2,161 employees were engaged in R&D work, 1,226 of whom dedicated part of their time to R&D.

The highest R&D employment rate was registered in the business enterprise sector, with 1,126 employees, followed by the higher education sector, with 957 employees.

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