Research and development expenditure (% of GDP)

wdi.gb_xpd_rsdv_gd_zs · World Bank — World Development Indicators · GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS

Definition

Gross domestic expenditure on research and development, public and private, as a share of GDP. UIS data, republished by the World Bank.

Formula: Gross domestic R&D expenditure / GDP × 100.
Unit: %
License: CC-BY-4.0

This visualization is descriptive and does not show that a government caused the change. See the methodology.

Research and development expenditure (% of GDP)

Brazil
Argentina
Chile
Colombia
Mexico
Latin America & Caribbean
World

%. Background bands: Brazil's presidents, not those of the chart's other geographies. Years with data: Brazil: 2000–2023; Argentina: 1996–2023; Chile: 2007–2022; Colombia: 2000–2020; Mexico: 1996–2024; Latin America & Caribbean: 2000–2023; World: 1996–2023.

Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): Source: World Bank — World Development Indicators · Source version: 2026-10-08 · Collected on: 2026-11-01 · License: CC-BY-4.0
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View the data as a table

Year	Brazil	Argentina	Chile	Colombia	Mexico	Latin America & Caribbean	World
1996	–	0.4	–	–	0.2	–	2.0
1997	–	0.4	–	–	0.3	–	2.0
1998	–	0.4	–	–	0.3	–	2.0
1999	–	0.5	–	–	0.3	–	2.0
2000	1.0	0.4	–	0.1	0.3	0.6	2.0
2001	1.1	0.4	–	0.1	0.3	0.5	2.1
2002	1.0	0.4	–	0.2	0.3	0.5	2.0
2003	1.0	0.4	–	0.2	0.4	0.6	2.0
2004	1.0	0.4	–	0.2	0.4	0.6	2.0
2005	1.0	0.4	–	0.2	0.4	0.6	1.9
2006	1.0	0.5	–	0.2	0.4	0.6	2.0
2007	1.1	0.5	0.3	0.2	0.4	0.6	1.9
2008	1.1	0.5	0.4	0.2	0.4	0.7	2.0
2009	1.1	0.6	0.4	0.2	0.5	0.7	2.0
2010	1.2	0.6	0.3	0.2	0.5	0.7	2.0
2011	1.1	0.6	0.4	0.2	0.5	0.7	2.0
2012	1.1	0.6	0.4	0.2	0.4	0.7	2.0
2013	1.2	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.7	2.0
2014	1.3	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.8	2.1
2015	1.3	0.6	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.7	2.1
2016	1.2	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.7	2.1
2017	1.1	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.6	2.1
2018	1.2	0.5	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.6	2.2
2019	1.2	0.5	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.6	2.3
2020	1.2	0.5	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.6	2.5
2021	1.1	0.5	0.4	–	0.3	0.6	2.5
2022	1.2	0.5	0.4	–	0.3	0.7	2.6
2023	1.2	0.6	–	–	0.3	0.7	2.6
2024	–	–	–	–	0.3	–	–

† series break

Criticisms of the metric

It mixes public and business spending, so it does not measure government science policy alone. R&D surveys are irregular in some years.

References

World Bank. World Development Indicators — metadata for GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS
UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Education and science data: methodology. https://uis.unesco.org/

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