Romania has the lowest budget allocation for research among European Union (EU) member states, according to the latest infographic published by the Social Monitor, a project of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation Romania.

In 2023, Romania allocated just 0.38% of its GDP to scientific research, ranking last in the EU for public investment in research and development. This represents a slight increase from 2022, when the allocation was 0.35%, but remains below the 0.41% recorded in 2021.

Compared to other Central and Eastern European countries, Romania lags behind Bulgaria (0.58%), Hungary (0.63%), Slovakia (0.76%), Slovenia (1.35%), and Lithuania (1.01%). The gap is even wider when compared to Western European nations such as Germany (2.18%), Denmark (1.86%), the Netherlands (1.85%), Finland (1.54%), and Sweden (1.46%).

The report analyzed government funding for research and development as a percentage of GDP, highlighting Romania’s persistent underfunding of this sector.

In addition to financial constraints, Romania also has the lowest employment rate in the research and development sector within the EU. In 2022, the country had just 29,837 researchers, of whom 16,078 were men and 13,759 were women. Measured as a share of total employment, researchers accounted for only 0.25% in 2022 and 0.27% in 2023, placing Romania at the bottom of the EU rankings.

According to Eurostat, most of Romania’s researchers are employed in the government sector, rather than in private industry or higher education institutions.

Even small island nations such as Malta (0.43%) and Cyprus (0.34%) have a higher percentage of researchers within their workforce. Bulgaria (0.58%) and Hungary (0.97%) also surpass Romania, while Eastern European countries like Lithuania (0.77%), Poland (0.85%), the Czech Republic (1%), and Estonia (1%) are significantly ahead.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

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