Innovation Intensity in Selected Countries

In addition to R&D expenditures, innovation expenditures also include expenditures for the application of the new idea and its market introduction.

Innovation intensity as the share of innovation expenditure in the total turnover of all companies in an economy indicates the intensity across all companies to invest in research, development and market introduction/application from total turnover.

In 2020, Germany ranked second behind Sweden with an innovation intensity of 3.4 percent across all sectors. In knowledge-intensive services, Denmark and Sweden recorded the highest innovation intensities of the countries under comparison, at 7.6 and 6.3 percent, respectively. With an innovation intensity of 9.4 percent, Germany was at the top of the list of the countries considered in the research-intensive industries.

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Innovation intensity: innovation expenditure by companies as a percentage of their total turnover.
Research-intensive industry: divisions 20-21, 26-30 of WZ classification. Since data for all economic sectors are not available for all countries, the definition of research-intensive industry in the European comparison differs from the definition otherwise used by the EFI.
Knowledge-intensive services divisions 58-66, 71-73 of WZ classification. Since data for all economic sectors are not available for all countries, the definition of knowledge-intensive services in the European comparison differs from the definition otherwise used by the EFI.
All sectors: divisions 5-39, 46, 49-53, 58-66, 71-73 of WZ classification.
Source: Eurostat, Community Innovation Surveys 2020 and 2018. Calculations by ZEW.
© EFI – Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation 2023.