Business expenditure on R&D

Expenditure on R&D by North East region businesses was £411 million in 2019.

• This was £33 million less than in 2018 but £129 million higher than in 2014
• the 2019 total was 1.6 per cent of all UK expenditure on R&D by businesses
• this was equivalent to £1.87 million per 10,000 adults, a much lower rate than across the UK (£4.80 million per 10,000 adults)
• however, the North East rate had increased by 43 per cent since 2014, a larger percentage increase than nationally (up 26 per cent) 
• the North East rate was the lowest among the nine English regions and less than a fifth of the rate in the region with the highest spend per head (East of England).

Employment in R&D in businesses in the North East region in 2019 was 6,000 (full-time equivalents) .

• This is 2.3% of total UK employment in R&D in businesses 
• it is equivalent to 27 per 10,000 adults, the lowest rate among the nine English regions
• the North East rate was only 56 per cent of the UK equivalent (49 per 10,000 adults).

The percentage of expenditure on R&D by North East region businesses was higher than the national proportion for:

• Chemical manufacturing
• mechanical engineering manufacturing
• services.

For some manufacturing types, R&D is based in other English regions despite a high proportion of the manufacturing process taking place in the North East region