R&D Spending

R&D can be measured by the expenditure on R&D performed by an organisation, or the funding received by an organisation for R&D work. These are often, but not always, the same.

About this data

You can read more on the Gross domestic expenditure on research and development, UK: 2022. This data provides an overview at regional level of where R&D is taking place.

Total spending by region, current prices (£ millions)

Key findings

Overall, Business Enterprise dominates R&D spending, with the East of England top of this category. London, the East of England and the South East come top of R&D spending, with almost double the total spend of any other region. The North East spends around 9 times less on R&D than London, whilst Yorkshire and The Humber and the East Midlands spend around a quarter of London's total.

London and the South East have the highest share of businesses in the UK at 19.5% and 14.8%, respectively. For this reason we expect their total business spend on R&D to be consistently larger than other regions. However, the roughly £1.5 billion higher spend in the East of England shows there is particularly intense investment in the region, since a comparatively smaller 9.9% of UK businesses are located there.

Note: Business count figures come from Table 4 of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) UK business; activity, size and location: 2024 statistical bulletin.

Country or regionTotalGovernment & UKRIHigher EducationBusiness EnterprisePrivate Non Profit
North East14445959473259
North West65012111439483120
Yorkshire and the Humber3351169121719641
East Midlands319510073623572
West Midlands490483972383316
East of England12746385144710690224
London1370066337698959309
South East12400117123958705129
South West4772515977327010

Total spending by nation, current prices (£ millions)

Key findings

England makes up 89% of the UK's total R&D spend, which is similar to its 87% share of UK businesses. Unsurprisingly, it leads on R&D spending in each sub-category, with Scotland in second for each category.

Country or regionTotalGovernment & UKRIHigher EducationBusiness EnterprisePrivate Non Profit
United Kingdom7069836181627749942860
England6301333561354645341770
Wales1595445879595
Scotland48691861867273185
Northern Ireland122031277912null