The grand duchy had the highest amount of government spending on research and development in the EU last year.

In Luxembourg, €647 per resident from the public purse was spent on R&D in 2023, according to released by Eurostat, the EU’s official statistics bureau. The second and third highest allocations were recorded in Denmark (€552) and Germany (€529), while the lowest levels were registered in Romania (€21), Bulgaria (€33) and Hungary (€48).

Luxembourg’s total public R&D spending per inhabitant grew by 16% in the decade to 2023, the Eurostat figures showed.

As a portion of the grand duchy’s overall economy, public R&D spending declined from 0.60%-0.62% in 2013-2019 to 0.54%-0.55% in 2022-2023.

Luxembourg spends more in real terms than its neighbouring countries and the EU27 average by a clear margin, although in euro terms Switzerland’s public outlays are higher.

As a portion of its total economy, public R&D budgets are relatively higher across much of the EU, including Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands, as well as Switzerland.