10/01/2019 (Agence Europe) – In 2017, the highest R&D expenditure was recorded in Sweden (3.33% of GDP) and Austria (3.16%), followed by Denmark (3.06%) and Germany (3.02%), each with R&D expenditures above 3% of GDP, according to the latest figures from the EU Statistical Office (Eurostat) published on Thursday 10 January. These Member States thus meet the European R&D intensity target of 3% of GDP by 2020. They are followed by Finland (2.76%), Belgium (2.58%) and France (2.25%). On the other end of the spectrum are Romania (0.5%), Latvia (0.51%), Malta (0.55%), Cyprus (0.56%), Bulgaria (0.75%), Croatia (0.86%), Lithuania and Slovakia (0.88%). The European average is 2.07%. Far behind South Korea (4.22%), Japan (3.28%) or the United States (2.76%), but slightly higher than the Chinese (2.06%). (PH)