Poor states ‘increase spending on science’

Spending on science in the developing world grew three times than the rate of richer countries between 2002 and 2007. This was stated in figures of Unesco Institute for Statistics (UIS) released by the London-based Science and Development Network. It is also interesting to note that the number of researchers in developing countries jumped from 1.8 million to 2.7 million in the same period.The third UIS survey on statistics of science and technology indicated, on several counts, that the gap in investment rates in science between the developed and developing worlds is closing. While spending on research and development (R&D) by developed countries grew by about one third (32 per cent) during the period, developing countries more than doubled their spending (103%), from $135 to $274 billion.The surge in researcher numbers means that the developing world employed 30 per cent of researchers in 2002 but 38 per cent by 2007. The survey, which is conducted every two years, focuses on human resources devoted to, and expenditure on, R&D.The results showed that R&D investment also increased in developing countries. Total spending on R&D by developing countries accounted for one per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007, up from 0.8 per cent in 2002, said the data. This compares with 2.3 per cent for the developed world.The figures, however, concealed big differences between the more advanced developing nations and the least developed countries. China, for example, increased its R&D spending to 1.5 per cent of GDP by 2007, and accounts for over half (53%) of researchers in developing countries. Only six countries other than China are spending one per cent or more of GDP on research.While developing nations as a whole more than doubled their R&D expenditure, this figure fell to a less than three quarters increase (73 per cent) once China and India were removed from the calculation. But even in the 50 least developed countries (defined according to the standard UN classification), there was an average 20 per cent increase in researchers. There was also a slight increase — from 40 to 43 — in the number of researchers per million inhabitants. However, these countries still only have 0.5 per cent of the world’s researchers.In South Africa, the number of researchers grew by nearly a third (31 per cent) over the five-year period. This also represents an 18 per cent increase in the number of researchers per million inhabitants (from 51 to 60), a key figure used by economists as an indicator of a country’s commitment to science. In the rest of Africa, there was an overall higher increase of 34 per cent in the number of researchers, from 32,000 to 43,000.Peter Tindemans, former head of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Global Science Forum, observed that it is unlikely that the United States will spend much more than its current figure of about 2.75 per cent of GDP [on R&D], but it is very likely that China will grow from its present 1.6 per cent or so to above two per cent.