The main objective of the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard (the Scoreboard) is to benchmark the performance of EU innovation-driven industries against major global counterparts and to provide an R&D investment database that companies, investors and policymakers can use to compare individual company performances against the best global competitors in their sectors.
The 2021 edition of the Scoreboard analyses the 2500 companies that invested the largest sums in R&D worldwide in 2020. These companies, with headquarters in 39 countries, and more than 800k subsidiaries all over the world, each invested over €36 million in R&D in 2020. The total investment across all 2500 companies was €908.9bn, an amount equivalent to 90% of the world’s business-funded R&D.
This report analyses companies' R&D, patents and other financial performance indicators over recent years, focusing on the comparative performance of EU companies and their global counterparts. Moreover, it includes a patent-based analysis showing the positioning of the EU in green technology for energy intensive industries; and a study exploring the role of the Scoreboard companies in achieving the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs).
The results of this report highlight the challenges and opportunities facing the EU as it seeks to improve its R&D capability and reinvigorate its industrial base, in line with the priorities of the new industrial and innovation EU policy, particularly in the context of the digital and green transitions.
GRASSANO Nicola;
HERNANDEZ GUEVARA Hector;
FAKO Peter;
TUEBKE Alexander;
AMOROSO Sara;
GEORGAKAKI Aliki;
NAPOLITANO Lorenzo;
PASIMENI Francesco;
RENTOCCHINI Francesco;
COMPANO Ramon;
FATICA Serena;
PANZICA Roberto;
2021-12-17
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC127360
978-92-76-44399-5 (online),
978-92-76-44400-8 (print),
1831-9424 (online),
1018-5593 (print),
2599-574X (online),
2599-5731 (print),
EUR 30902 EN,
OP KJ-BD-21-001-EN-N (online),
OP KJ-BD-21-001-EN-C (print),
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC127360,
10.2760/559391 (online),
10.2760/472514 (print),
