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R&D Industry
Korea R&D Budget Size
The national R&D budget has grown to over 30 trillion won over the past 6 years.
Size of the government R&D budget by year
(Unit: trillion won, %)
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023(p) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R&D budget | 19.7 | 20.5 | 24.2 | 27.4 | 29.8 | 31.1 |
| R&D budget growth rate | 1.1 | 4.4 | 18.0 | 13.1 | 8.7 | 4.4 |
| Total expenditure growth rate | 7.1 | 9.5 | 9.1 | 8.9 | 8.3 | 5.2 |
| R&D as a percentage of total expenditure | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.9 |
Government R&D Investment as a percentage of GDP by country (2022)
Korea ranks 1st in government R&D investment as a percentage of GDP and 2nd in total R&D investment in the world
| Nation | R&D investment(hundred million $) | Percentage of GDF(%) |
|---|---|---|
| German | 456 | 0.98 |
| Japan | 409.4 | 0.77 |
| Korea | 240.1 | 1.09 |
| Nation | R&D investment(100 million $) | Percentage of GDF(%) |
|---|---|---|
| German | 1226.3 | 3.12 |
| Japan | 1647.1 | 3.24 |
| Korea | 764.1 | 4.64 |
The Direction of Government R&D Investment in 2023
7 R&D-focused investment plan industry sectors
Zoom in
- Strengthening creative and challenging basic research and cultivating future scientific and technology talents
- Promotion of digital transformation in al areas through DNA advancement
- Laying the foundation for systematic nurturing if national essential strategic technologies(*)
- Leading 2050 carbon neutrality
- Strengthening the material/parts/equipment ecosystem
- Creation of a self-reliant innovation base to enhance the vitality of the region
- Strengthening the ability to respond to infectious diseases and supporting the bio-health sector
- Promotion of start-ups and commercialization based in excellent research results, and fostering of promising small and medium-sized enterprises
- Mission-focused to solve social problems Reinforcement of type R&D
(*AI, next generation communications, leading edge bio, semiconductor and display, leading edge robotics and manufacture, secondary cells, hydrogen, quantum, aerospace and marine, cyber security)
Number of R&D paper and patent
Achievements through R&D such as the number of SCIE papers and domestic and international patent application
6.3%increase from the previous year (2019: 41,919)
Average annual(2016~2020) growth rate: 4.5%
Korea's Top Industries and R&D
Semiconductor
- No.1 Samsung Electronics($65.69bn)
- No.2 Intel($58.37bn)
- No.3 SK Hynix($36.23bn)
- No.4 Qualcomm($34.75bn)
- No.5 Micron Technology($27.57bn)
- No.6 Broadcom Limited($23.81bn)
- No.7 AMD($23.29bn)
- No.8 TI($18.81bn)
- No. MediaTek($18.23bn)
- No.10 Apple($17.55bn)
Display
OLED market share(2022) : 71%
Display market share
| Nation | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022(上) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 21.0 | 25.0 | 30.9 | 36.7 | 41.3 | 42.5 |
| South Korea | 44.4 | 42.6 | 40.4 | 36.8 | 33.3 | 36.9 |
| Taiwan | 22.9 | 24.5 | 21.9 | 22.5 | 23.1 | 18.2 |
| Japan | 10.8 | 6.7 | 5.9 | 3.6 | 1.9 | 2.1 |
| Etc. | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
R&D Ecosystem in Seoul
Seoul's Excellent R&D Industry
Seoul continues to invest money and workforce in R&D to develop excellent industries and to support R&D for each base, and strive for the 4th industrial revolution and economic revitalization.
-
Total R&D investment in Seoul in 2023
KRW 38.1 billion -
Seoul R&D manpower
190,617 people
in 2020 -
Revitalization of R&D industry by cluster
Yangjae(AI)
Suseo(Robot)
Hongneung(Bio·Medical)
Yeouido·Mapo
(Fintech·Blockchain) -
Number of R&D
14,439 organizations
Organizations in Seoul
in 2020