Malta with lowest R&D investment in the EU

Malta is faring badly in one of the most prospective investment sectors in a modern economy.

Statistics issued by Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, puts Malta at the end of the EU scale when it comes to expenditure on research and development.

As a percentage of GDP, only 0.29 per cent were spent on R&D by both public and private entities.

Perhaps more significant is the small amount of money pumped into research by the business sector which last year only amounted to 18.6 per cent of the €12 million (Lm5 million) spent in this sector. In modern economies the majority of funds spent on R&D derive from the private sector.

According to Eurostat in 2004, the EU 25 spent nearly €200 billion on R&D with an average percentage of GDP in the EU amounting to 1.9 per cent.

The countries in the EU which invest most in R&D are Sweden (3.74 per cent of GDP), Finland (3.51 per cent), Denmark (2.63 per cent) and Germany (2.49 per cent).

In contrast, Cyprus spent 0.37 per cent, Latvia 0.42 per cent and Slovakia 0.53 per cent.