In 2024, the total amount of expenditure on research and development activity (R&D) was 1 574.1 million BGN, which was 7.3% more than the previous year. The annual growth tendency is retained for the period 2020 - 2024.
R&D intensity (R&D expenditure as a percentage of the gross domestic product) amounted to 0.77% and it was 0.02 percentage points lower than in 2023.
The Business enterprise sector was the largest of the four institutional sectors of R&D performance, with a share of 65.1% of the total R&D expenditure in 2024. It was followed by the Government sector, whose research institutes and organizations formed 27.0%. The spending on R&D by tertiary schools and university hospitals amounted to 7.4% and to 0.5% by the non-profit organizations, respectively.
The R&D activity was financed from the state budget, businesses, other national sources and from abroad. In 2024, largest was the share of foreign sources of funds for R&D - 40.3%. The Business enterprise sector financed 32.3% of the total R&D expenditure, and the state budget - 26.8%.
Regarding R&D expenditure by fields of science in 2024, as in the previous year, the highest share belonged to the R&D expenditure in engineering and technology sciences - 47.4% (746.2 million BGN), followed by the medical and health sciences with a share of 22.0% (346.0 million BGN) and the natural sciences - 17.9% (281.9 million BGN).
In 2024, the personnel engaged in research and development activity amounted to 26 472 persons (in full-time equivalent), which was 4.2% more than the previous year. The share of women in the total R&D personnel was 48.2%. The number of researchers in full-time equivalent was 17 601 persons, which was 7.6% more in comparison with 2023.
In 2024, the main part of the R&D personnel was concentrated in companies and research institutes in the business enterprise sector - 54.2% of the total R&D personnel (in full-time equivalent), or 14 343 persons. In organizations and institutions of the government sector 8 145 persons were involved in R&D activity, which constituted 30.8%. In the higher education sector 3 859 persons carried out research and development, with a relative share of 14.6%.
