Countries by R&D Spending (% GDP)

Complete ranking of 100 countries • % of GDP • Updated 2026

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Israel leads all 100 countries in R&D Spending with a value of 6.02% of GDP, while Myanmar ranks last at 0.02% of GDP. This represents a 253-fold difference between the highest and lowest values.

What R&D Spending Measures

Research and development spending as a share of GDP, from World Bank Open Data.

Why This Ranking Matters

Examining R&D Spending across all countries reveals patterns that might not be obvious at the national level. Regional clusters, outlier nations, and historical trajectories all become clearer when the full global picture is assembled in a single ranking.

Global Range

Values range from 0.02% of GDP (Myanmar) to 6.02% of GDP (Israel) — a 253-fold difference across 100 countries.

Regional Patterns

European countries dominate this ranking, holding 13 of the top 20 positions. This strong regional concentration suggests shared economic, geographic, or policy factors that drive higher values across the continent.

Values are broadly distributed across countries, with the middle 50% ranging from 0.25% of GDP to 1.49% of GDP. The overall spread from 0.02% of GDP to 6.02% of GDP reflects significant global variation.

Notable Outliers

The top of the ranking is competitive: Israel and South Korea are separated by only 16%, indicating that the leading positions could shift with updated data.

Continental Leaders

Asia

Israel

6.02% of GDP

North America

United States

3.59% of GDP

Europe

Sweden

3.41% of GDP

Oceania

Australia

1.86% of GDP

South America

Brazil

1.15% of GDP

Africa

Egypt

1.03% of GDP

Highest R&D Spending

The 5 strongest R&D Spending reads.

Israel6.02% of GDP South Korea5.21% of GDP United States3.59% of GDP Sweden3.41% of GDP Belgium3.41% of GDP

Lowest R&D Spending

The 5 lowest R&D Spending reads.

Myanmar0.02% of GDP Iraq0.04% of GDP Trinidad and Tobago0.05% of GDP Guatemala0.06% of GDP Kyrgyzstan0.06% of GDP

Data Note

Rankings are based on the latest available data from World Bank Open Data, covering 100 of 249 countries and territories. Countries without data for this metric are excluded from the ranking. All values represent the most recently reported figures.

Top 10 Countries

1stIsrael6.0% of GDP

2ndSouth Korea5.2% of GDP

3rdUnited States3.6% of GDP

4thSweden3.4% of GDP

5thBelgium3.4% of GDP

6thJapan3.4% of GDP

7thSwitzerland3.3% of GDP

8thAustria3.2% of GDP

9thGermany3.1% of GDP

10thFinland3.0% of GDP

Country Ladder

1stIsraelAsia6.0% of GDP 2ndSouth KoreaAsia5.2% of GDP 3rdUnited StatesNorth America3.6% of GDP 4thSwedenEurope3.4% of GDP 5thBelgiumEurope3.4% of GDP 6thJapanAsia3.4% of GDP 7thSwitzerlandEurope3.3% of GDP 8thAustriaEurope3.2% of GDP 9thGermanyEurope3.1% of GDP 10thFinlandEurope3.0% of GDP 11thUnited KingdomEurope2.9% of GDP 12thDenmarkEurope2.9% of GDP 13thIcelandEurope2.6% of GDP 14thChinaAsia2.6% of GDP 15thNetherlandsEurope2.3% of GDP 16thFranceEurope2.2% of GDP 17thSingaporeAsia2.2% of GDP 18thSloveniaEurope2.1% of GDP 19thCzechiaEurope2.0% of GDP 20thAustraliaOceania1.9% of GDP 21stEstoniaEurope1.8% of GDP 22ndPortugalEurope1.7% of GDP 23rdCanadaNorth America1.7% of GDP 24thNorwayEurope1.6% of GDP 25thUnited Arab EmiratesAsia1.5% of GDP 26thGreeceEurope1.5% of GDP 27thNew ZealandOceania1.5% of GDP 28thPolandEurope1.5% of GDP 29thSpainEurope1.4% of GDP 30thCroatiaEurope1.4% of GDP 31stHungaryEurope1.4% of GDP 32ndItalyEurope1.4% of GDP 33rdTurkeyEurope1.3% of GDP 34thThailandAsia1.2% of GDP 35thBrazilSouth America1.1% of GDP 36thHong KongAsia1.1% of GDP 37thLithuaniaEurope1.1% of GDP 38thEgyptAfrica1.0% of GDP 39thSlovakiaEurope0.98% of GDP 40thLuxembourgEurope0.98% of GDP 41stIrelandEurope0.96% of GDP 42ndMalaysiaAsia0.95% of GDP 43rdSerbiaEurope0.95% of GDP 44thRussiaEurope0.93% of GDP 45thKenyaAfrica0.81% of GDP 46thRwandaAfrica0.79% of GDP 47thLatviaEurope0.76% of GDP 48thBulgariaEurope0.75% of GDP 49thCyprusEurope0.75% of GDP 50thIranAsia0.73% of GDP 51stQatarAsia0.68% of GDP 52ndNamibiaAfrica0.65% of GDP 53rdIndiaAsia0.65% of GDP 54thUruguaySouth America0.63% of GDP 55thSouth AfricaAfrica0.62% of GDP 56thMaltaEurope0.60% of GDP 57thBelarusEurope0.58% of GDP 58thSaudi ArabiaAsia0.56% of GDP 59thArgentinaSouth America0.55% of GDP 60thRomaniaEurope0.46% of GDP 61stVietnamAsia0.42% of GDP 62ndNorth MacedoniaEurope0.40% of GDP 63rdCongoAfrica0.38% of GDP 64thOmanAsia0.37% of GDP 65thChileSouth America0.36% of GDP 66thCubaNorth America0.36% of GDP 67thCosta RicaNorth America0.34% of GDP 68thUkraineEurope0.33% of GDP 69thUgandaAfrica0.31% of GDP 70thColombiaNorth America0.29% of GDP 71stIndonesiaAsia0.28% of GDP 72ndMexicoNorth America0.27% of GDP 73rdMacaoAsia0.26% of GDP 74thGeorgiaEurope0.25% of GDP 75thBurkina FasoAfrica0.25% of GDP 76thMauritiusAfrica0.23% of GDP 77thBermudaNorth America0.23% of GDP 78thMoldovaEurope0.22% of GDP 79thBosnia and HerzegovinaEurope0.19% of GDP 80thAzerbaijanEurope0.18% of GDP 81stArmeniaEurope0.18% of GDP 82ndMaliAfrica0.17% of GDP 83rdPakistanAsia0.16% of GDP 84thPeruSouth America0.16% of GDP 85thPanamaNorth America0.16% of GDP 86thKazakhstanAsia0.14% of GDP 87thEl SalvadorNorth America0.14% of GDP 88thTurkmenistanAsia0.14% of GDP 89thUzbekistanAsia0.13% of GDP 90thParaguaySouth America0.12% of GDP 91stSri LankaAsia0.11% of GDP 92ndKuwaitAsia0.10% of GDP 93rdTajikistanAsia0.09% of GDP 94thMongoliaAsia0.08% of GDP 95thSyriaAsia0.07% of GDP 96thKyrgyzstanAsia0.06% of GDP 97thGuatemalaNorth America0.06% of GDP 98thTrinidad and TobagoNorth America0.05% of GDP 99thIraqAsia0.04% of GDP 100thMyanmarAsia0.02% of GDP

R&D Spending (% GDP) ranking for 100 countries
				Percentile
1st	Israel	6.0% of GDP	Asia	100%
2nd	South Korea	5.2% of GDP	Asia	99%
3rd	United States	3.6% of GDP	North America	98%
4th	Sweden	3.4% of GDP	Europe	97%
5th	Belgium	3.4% of GDP	Europe	96%
6th	Japan	3.4% of GDP	Asia	95%
7th	Switzerland	3.3% of GDP	Europe	94%
8th	Austria	3.2% of GDP	Europe	93%
9th	Germany	3.1% of GDP	Europe	92%
10th	Finland	3.0% of GDP	Europe	91%
11th	United Kingdom	2.9% of GDP	Europe	90%
12th	Denmark	2.9% of GDP	Europe	89%
13th	Iceland	2.6% of GDP	Europe	88%
14th	China	2.6% of GDP	Asia	87%
15th	Netherlands	2.3% of GDP	Europe	86%
16th	France	2.2% of GDP	Europe	85%
17th	Singapore	2.2% of GDP	Asia	84%
18th	Slovenia	2.1% of GDP	Europe	83%
19th	Czechia	2.0% of GDP	Europe	82%
20th	Australia	1.9% of GDP	Oceania	81%
21st	Estonia	1.8% of GDP	Europe	80%
22nd	Portugal	1.7% of GDP	Europe	79%
23rd	Canada	1.7% of GDP	North America	78%
24th	Norway	1.6% of GDP	Europe	77%
25th	United Arab Emirates	1.5% of GDP	Asia	76%
26th	Greece	1.5% of GDP	Europe	75%
27th	New Zealand	1.5% of GDP	Oceania	74%
28th	Poland	1.5% of GDP	Europe	73%
29th	Spain	1.4% of GDP	Europe	72%
30th	Croatia	1.4% of GDP	Europe	71%
31st	Hungary	1.4% of GDP	Europe	70%
32nd	Italy	1.4% of GDP	Europe	69%
33rd	Turkey	1.3% of GDP	Europe	68%
34th	Thailand	1.2% of GDP	Asia	67%
35th	Brazil	1.1% of GDP	South America	66%
36th	Hong Kong	1.1% of GDP	Asia	65%
37th	Lithuania	1.1% of GDP	Europe	64%
38th	Egypt	1.0% of GDP	Africa	63%
39th	Slovakia	0.98% of GDP	Europe	62%
40th	Luxembourg	0.98% of GDP	Europe	61%
41st	Ireland	0.96% of GDP	Europe	60%
42nd	Malaysia	0.95% of GDP	Asia	59%
43rd	Serbia	0.95% of GDP	Europe	58%
44th	Russia	0.93% of GDP	Europe	57%
45th	Kenya	0.81% of GDP	Africa	56%
46th	Rwanda	0.79% of GDP	Africa	55%
47th	Latvia	0.76% of GDP	Europe	54%
48th	Bulgaria	0.75% of GDP	Europe	53%
49th	Cyprus	0.75% of GDP	Europe	52%
50th	Iran	0.73% of GDP	Asia	51%
51st	Qatar	0.68% of GDP	Asia	50%
52nd	Namibia	0.65% of GDP	Africa	49%
53rd	India	0.65% of GDP	Asia	48%
54th	Uruguay	0.63% of GDP	South America	47%
55th	South Africa	0.62% of GDP	Africa	46%
56th	Malta	0.60% of GDP	Europe	45%
57th	Belarus	0.58% of GDP	Europe	44%
58th	Saudi Arabia	0.56% of GDP	Asia	43%
59th	Argentina	0.55% of GDP	South America	42%
60th	Romania	0.46% of GDP	Europe	41%
61st	Vietnam	0.42% of GDP	Asia	40%
62nd	North Macedonia	0.40% of GDP	Europe	39%
63rd	Congo	0.38% of GDP	Africa	38%
64th	Oman	0.37% of GDP	Asia	37%
65th	Chile	0.36% of GDP	South America	36%
66th	Cuba	0.36% of GDP	North America	35%
67th	Costa Rica	0.34% of GDP	North America	34%
68th	Ukraine	0.33% of GDP	Europe	33%
69th	Uganda	0.31% of GDP	Africa	32%
70th	Colombia	0.29% of GDP	North America	31%
71st	Indonesia	0.28% of GDP	Asia	30%
72nd	Mexico	0.27% of GDP	North America	29%
73rd	Macao	0.26% of GDP	Asia	28%
74th	Georgia	0.25% of GDP	Europe	27%
75th	Burkina Faso	0.25% of GDP	Africa	26%
76th	Mauritius	0.23% of GDP	Africa	25%
77th	Bermuda	0.23% of GDP	North America	24%
78th	Moldova	0.22% of GDP	Europe	23%
79th	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.19% of GDP	Europe	22%
80th	Azerbaijan	0.18% of GDP	Europe	21%
81st	Armenia	0.18% of GDP	Europe	20%
82nd	Mali	0.17% of GDP	Africa	19%
83rd	Pakistan	0.16% of GDP	Asia	18%
84th	Peru	0.16% of GDP	South America	17%
85th	Panama	0.16% of GDP	North America	16%
86th	Kazakhstan	0.14% of GDP	Asia	15%
87th	El Salvador	0.14% of GDP	North America	14%
88th	Turkmenistan	0.14% of GDP	Asia	13%
89th	Uzbekistan	0.13% of GDP	Asia	12%
90th	Paraguay	0.12% of GDP	South America	11%
91st	Sri Lanka	0.11% of GDP	Asia	10%
92nd	Kuwait	0.10% of GDP	Asia	9%
93rd	Tajikistan	0.09% of GDP	Asia	8%
94th	Mongolia	0.08% of GDP	Asia	7%
95th	Syria	0.07% of GDP	Asia	6%
96th	Kyrgyzstan	0.06% of GDP	Asia	5%
97th	Guatemala	0.06% of GDP	North America	4%
98th	Trinidad and Tobago	0.05% of GDP	North America	3%
99th	Iraq	0.04% of GDP	Asia	2%
100th	Myanmar	0.02% of GDP	Asia	1%

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