Is the UK doing enough innovative activity? International comparative evidence

Policy makers in the UK and the EU have been concerned that not enough resources are being devoted to innovative activities. The Barcelona European Council recently set a target to raise European research and development (R&D) expenditure to 3% of GDP. Recent figures for the UK show that Gross Expenditure on R&D was 1.9% of GDP in 2000, falling behind Germany, France and the US. This low R&D intensity is cited as a potential reason underlying the UK’s productivity gap vis-á-vis those countries.