Decrease in Research and Development Expenditure in the Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands are the only Nordic country which has not experienced growth in research and development in 2023 compared to 2022. New figures show a drop in Research and Development (R&D) investments in 2023 compared to 2022 as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) across all Nordic countries, except for the Faroe Islands. The Faroe Islands lie far behind the other Nordic countries and most countries in Europe in expenditure for R&D as a percentage of GDP. 

An article in the Norwegian magazine Forkningspolitikk points out that Sweden is the leading country in  Europe in R&D investments for the ninth consecutive year. Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Austria and Germany have now met and exceeded the European Council´s goal of investing 3 percent of the national GDP in R&D. In 2022, only Sweden, Belgium, Austria and Germany had surpassed this threshold. The investments in R&D in the Faroe Islands in 2023 was 1.2 percent of GDP which is less than half of the goal set by the European Council.

The article in Forskningspolitikk is written by Kristina Arge Simonsen from Research Counncil Faroe Islands and Statistics Faroe Islands. The figures in the article show that Iceland had the highest growth in R&D investments in 2023 with an increase of 9.1 percent. In 2021 and 2022 investments in Iceland in R&D grew into the double digits.

Most countries had  growth in the R&D investments in 2023. The largest drop in investments was in the Faroe Islands. Fluctuations in R&D investments in the Faroe Islands are expected due to the size of the population and the R&D community.

The article in Forskningspolitikk can be read here.