The Czech Republic is increasingly investing in research and development, yet the share of GDP remains stagnant. Companies with foreign capital are driving most of the spending.
In 2024, almost 147 billion Czech koruna were spent on research and development in the Czech Republic. The annual increase was primarily due to companies under foreign control. The number of employees in research and development has remained relatively stable at around 123,000 people for the past four years.
According to the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ), total research and development expenditure in 2024 rose by 5.1% to 146.9 billion koruna. Nevertheless, the share of these expenditures in gross domestic product (GDP) remained at 1.82% – the same value as the previous year. The highest share was recorded in 2020 at 1.95% of GDP. For comparison: the EU average over the past five years was around 2.3%, while Germany and Austria each exceeded 3%.
The corporate sector remains the driving force behind research. In 2024, Czech companies invested twice as much in research and development as universities and public institutions combined. Companies under foreign control were particularly active, accounting for two-thirds of corporate sector expenditure. “In 2024, 63.3 billion koruna flowed into research and development of these companies – mainly from the automotive and IT sectors. That is 4.5 billion more than the previous year,” said Martin Mana, Director of the Department of Social Statistics at the ČSÚ.
Public funding in 2024 amounted to 52.3 billion koruna, of which 43.1 billion came from national sources and 9.2 billion from EU funding. The latter went primarily to public research institutions.
The centre of Czech research remains clearly the capital. In Prague, 60.1 billion koruna were invested in research and development last year – equivalent to 41% of national expenditure. This was followed by the South Moravia region (Jihomoravský kraj) and Central Bohemia (Středočeský kraj), which each invest over 10 billion koruna annually (25.2 billion and 18.4 billion respectively).
The number of employees in research and development has stagnated for four years. In 2024, a total of 123,000 people were employed in this field in the Czech Republic. Converted to full-time equivalents, this corresponds to 86,900 people. The share of women has long been around 30% and is among the lowest within EU countries.
