R&D spending rises 30% to SAR 29.5B in 2024

Saudi Arabia’s total expenditure on research and development (R&D) increased by 30% in 2024, reaching approximately SAR 29.5 billion.

According to the R&D Statistics Survey issued by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), the business sector ranked first, accounting for 40.3% of total R&D spending (SAR 11.9 billion), followed by the government sector with 40.2% (SAR 11.9 billion), and higher education with 19.5% (SAR 5.8 billion).

By economic activity, the mining, industry, and electricity sectors accounted for 31.4% of total R&D spending (SAR 9.25 billion), followed by public administration and defense activities (25.6%), financial and insurance services, real estate, and business services (22.3%), then social and personal services (19.9%).

Regarding R&D funding sources, the government sector contributed SAR 15.7 billion, representing the largest share at 53%.

Business-sector funding amounted to SAR 12.1 billion (41%), followed by higher education at SAR 1.7 billion (6%).

The number of employees working in R&D increased by 15% in 2024 to reach 56,600.

Higher education accounted for the largest share of R&D personnel with 71.3% (40,300 employees), followed by the business sector with 22% (12,500), and the government sector with 6.7% (3,800).

The number of researchers in R&D rose by 13% to reach 41,600. Of these, 83.4% were in higher education, 11.6% in the business sector, and 5% in the government sector.