Indicator code:

BE_GVF_XGDP

Indicator:

Government financed BERD, % of GDP

Interpretation:

Government-funded business R&D is the component of R&Dperformed by business enterprises that they attributeto direct government funding. It includes grants andpayments for R&D contracts for procurement, but not R&Dtax incentives, repayable loans or equity investments.

Measurement concepts, definitions, classifications and acronyms used:

The OECD R&D Tax Incentives database provides a set of indicators that reflect the level and structure of central government support for business R&D in form of R&D tax incentives and direct funding across OECD member countries and fourteen non-member economies (Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Hong Kong (China), India, Malta, People's Republic of China, Peru, Romania, Russian Federation, South Africa and Thailand). This includes time-series indicators of tax expenditures for R&D, based on the latest 2025 OECD data collection on tax incentive support for R&D expenditures that was completed in March 2025. Estimates of the cost of R&D tax support at subnational government level are reported whenever such provisions are applicable and relevant data are available. These estimates of the cost of central and subnational government R&D tax relief have been combined with data on direct R&D funding, as compiled by National Statistical Offices based on reports from firms, in order to provide a more complete picture of government efforts to promote business R&D. Furthermore, these estimates are combined with data on Government budget allocations for R&D (GBARD) in the broader context of overall budgetary support for R&D activities undertaken by governments. Government budget allocations for R&D include direct funding provided to all sectors, including contributions to R&D programmes abroad. For Costa Rica, which became the 38th member of the OECD in May 2021, data on GBARD are currenlty not included in the OECD databases on Main Science and Technology Indicators, R&D Statistics and R&D tax incentives Indicators. The latest indicators and information on R&D tax incentives also feature on the dedicated OECD website Tax incentives for R&D and innovation and the OECD INNOTAX portal which provides a single access point to the latest policy design information, quantitative indicators and OECD analysis on R&D tax incentives, including the OECD R&D tax incentives country pages.

Tax expenditures are deviations from a benchmark tax system (OECD, 2010) and countries use different national benchmarks. Available estimates typically reflect the sum of foregone tax revenues – on an accruals basis – and refunds where applicable, with no or minimal adjustments for behavior effects. Some countries only report claims realised in a given year (cash basis), while others report losses to government on an accrual basis, excluding claims referring to earlier periods and including claims for current R&D to be used in the future.

The sources for the other indicators (direct funding of BERD, BERD, GBARD and GDP) include the OECD databases on Main Science and Technology Indicators (MSTI), R&D Statistics (RDS), and Reference series of Latin American and Caribbean countries and Eurostat Research and Development Database, and World Bank National Accounts Data

Data source(s):

OECD R&D tax expenditure (RDTAXEXP) dataset 2025/3

Suggested citation:

OECD R&D Tax Incentives database; https://oe.cd/rdtax

Contact email:

Comments or questions regarding RDTAXEXP can be sent to RDTaxStatsContact@oecd.org.

Reference period(s):

YEARS COVERED: 2000 onward.

Data coverage (country scope):

COUNTRIES COVERED: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and United States.

NON-MEMBER ECONOMIES: Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Hong Kong (China), India, Malta, Peru, Romania, Russian Federation, South Africa, and Thailand.

TERRITORIAL COVERGAGE OF LATEST EDITION:

In response to Russia's large-scale aggression against Ukraine, the OECD Council decided on 8 March 2022 to immediately suspend the participation of Russia and Belarus in OECD bodies. In view of this decision, the OECD suspended its solicitation of official statistics on R&D and R&D tax incentives from Russian authorities, leading to the absence of more recent R&D and R&D tax relief statistics for this country in the OECD database, while previously compiled data are still available.

In the case of China, the estimates for 2009-2017 draw on officially transmitted information and are based on responses by firms to the Business R&D survey compiled by the National Bureau of Statistics (no further details were provided). The extended estimates for 2018-2022 draw on the same source of data, i.e., responses from the Business R&D survey for industrial enterprises over the designated size (enterprises with annual income of over CNY 20 million), and are based on publicly available information released on official government websites collected through OECD desk-based research. Chinese officials have been given the opportunity to review the estimates before publication.

The new edition of the OECD Frascati Manual incorporates a new chapter dedicated to the measurement of R&D tax incentives (OECD, 2015), see https://oe.cd/frascati. The R&D data used in this publication have been collected and presented in line with the standard OECD methodology for R&D statistics as laid out in the OECD Frascati Manual.OECD (2019) provides a practical guide to using the OECD R&D Tax Incentives database, describing the R&D tax incentive time series data and highlighting their potential for internationally comparative work through descriptive indicators and econometric analysis.

Date of last update:

Release date: 25 November 2025.