Business spending on research and development

Data on business spending on research and development in UK regions between 2007 and 2018.

  1. Summary main findings
  2. By year
  3. By area
  4. About the data
  5. Download the data

Summary main findings

UK median business spending on research and enterprise went up by 32% between 2007 and 2018.

Spending went down by 22% between 2007 and 2011, but then went up every year until 2015. It reached its peak in 2017 and has stayed roughly the same since then.

By year

Visualisation for by year

Ratio (relative to 2007) of business spending on research and development (UK, 2007 to 2018)

Data for by year

Ratio (relative to 2007) of business spending on research and development (UK, 2007 to 2018)
Year Ratio (relative to 2007)
2018 1.32
2017 1.33
2016 1.20
2015 1.30
2014 1.01
2013 0.99
2012 0.90
2011 0.78
2010 0.86
2009 0.99
2008 0.85
2007 1.00

Download for by year

For the full download file, see Download the data.

By area

Visualisation for by area

Business spending on research and development, by region over time (UK, 2007 to 2018)

41 regions in the UK are ranked from the lowest to highest spending. They are then divided into 5 equally-sized groups (‘quintiles’), from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).

The regional estimates have a large margin of error – do not rank or compare specific regions.

See the composite indices for more precise estimates and to understand overall regional patterns.

Use the radio buttons to choose a dataset to view

Q1 - Lowest 20%
Q5 - Highest 20%

Data for by area

Business spending on research and development by area (UK, 2007 to 2018), in millions of euros
Region 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 1,953 2,066 2,204 2,273 1,995 2,129 1,535 1,537 1,286 1,647 1,654 1,677
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 2,810 2,826 2,932 3,164 2,761 2,347 2,302 2,011 1,851 1,875 2,166 2,652
Cheshire 874 1,101 1,468 1,701 1,262 1,345 1,432 1,962 1,859 1,864 No data No data
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 31 35 34 37 31 24 26 25 19 20 22 28
Cumbria 182 164 171 195 143 82 100 138 101 57 65 66
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 1,465 1,246 1,541 1,629 1,399 1,230 1,178 1,000 1,004 860 945 1,259
Devon 177 169 158 176 131 105 65 61 50 52 58 88
Dorset and Somerset 281 263 288 335 300 278 256 239 258 267 229 237
East Anglia 3,076 2,567 2,562 2,925 2,800 2,339 2,426 2,201 2,452 2,441 3,373 3,934
East Wales 240 260 322 286 327 388 287 234 242 269 289 344
East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 208 200 195 212 169 0 141 121 127 91 120 144
Eastern Scotland 892 1,613 1,415 1,399 1,199 527 525 455 424 414 437 542
Essex 782 825 860 904 792 707 736 1,009 1,729 1,404 1,611 2,757
Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath/Bristol area 1,491 1,462 1,443 1,602 1,672 1,438 1,510 1,447 1,540 1,446 1,894 2,075
Greater Manchester 428 403 425 420 323 263 327 301 306 263 264 323
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 907 867 1,117 1,445 1,249 1,266 1,201 1,293 1,196 1,206 1,406 1,982
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 1,866 1,809 1,453 1,711 1,366 1,066 1,121 913 566 589 634 942
Highlands and Islands 28 34 43 46 42 49 60 69 52 49 50 47
Inner London - East 562 477 428 484 410 257 156 171 No data No data No data No data
Inner London - West 1,592 1,472 1,080 1,314 1,250 948 1,009 843 No data No data No data No data
Kent 626 565 609 650 542 481 748 1,347 954 960 869 1,225
Lancashire 301 297 371 336 283 259 273 292 277 320 879 1,405
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 469 457 509 521 490 458 411 438 477 496 562 692
Lincolnshire 66 72 69 63 58 52 48 61 87 31 83 75
Merseyside 511 573 568 434 364 319 296 254 264 385 No data No data
North Eastern Scotland 194 187 248 194 266 124 117 137 89 107 102 112
North Yorkshire 262 249 246 315 206 338 255 226 201 224 218 258
Northern Ireland 592 597 616 732 465 563 572 459 444 419 273 340
Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear 291 291 262 261 214 224 226 194 222 243 257 305
Outer London - East and North East 59 56 71 69 51 46 56 53 No data No data No data No data
Outer London - South 59 82 80 76 111 103 104 142 No data No data No data No data
Outer London - West and North West 1,013 1,177 1,282 850 588 320 686 283 No data No data No data No data
Shropshire and Staffordshire 323 250 304 283 235 226 212 197 137 140 151 193
South Western Scotland No data 428 374 332 288 314 261 239 288 337 288 286
South Yorkshire 143 175 131 168 125 110 119 108 91 97 101 111
Southern Scotland 64 65 57 51 44 No data No data No data No data No data No data No data
Surrey, East and West Sussex 1,344 1,414 1,351 1,618 1,263 1,238 1,313 1,257 1,153 1,029 1,071 1,032
Tees Valley and Durham 210 157 125 185 160 169 158 142 185 198 264 292
West Central Scotland 355 362 317 282 244 No data No data No data No data No data No data No data
West Midlands 912 820 1,192 1,170 996 865 656 504 521 502 645 741
West Wales and The Valleys 246 273 235 242 197 81 83 98 93 184 100 93
West Yorkshire 429 470 388 443 396 370 305 252 254 224 244 288

Download for by area

For the full download file, see Download the data.

About the data

Data source

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Nesta Research & Development spatial data tool, 2021.

Time period

2007 to 2018

Geographic area

UK

What the data measures

The data shows changes in business spending on research and development in the UK between 2007 and 2018. It also shows average spending for 41 regions of the UK.

Things you need to know

Nesta data includes regional scores but not a national average figure. To track changes over time, we use the broadband speed for the median UK area each year.

The median is the middle point of a range of numbers which are arranged in order. In this case, the median area is the area ranked 21st out of the 41 regions in the UK.

Type of data

Administrative data

Full report

Read more in State of the Nation 2023 on GOV.UK.

Download the data

Download full dataset (CSV, 67KB)

This file contains the following variables:

  • Indicator code
  • Indicator name
  • Area type
  • Area name
  • Time period
  • Value
  • Unit

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