Singapore: Singapore spent $9.14 billion on research and development last year, putting the republic closer to establishing itself as an R&D powerhouse.

The republic’s overall expenditure on R&D last year increased by 26.5% from the 2006 level of $7.3 billion, announced the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) that conducts the annual national survey of R&D in Singapore.

The agency said yesterday that the unprecedented year-on-year increase by 26.5% was a significant jump from the 9.3% year-on-year increase in 2006.

As a percentage of GDP, the gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) rose from 2.31% in 2006 to 2.61% last year.

A*STAR said with GERD at 2.61% of the gross domestic product (GDP), Singapore’s R&D intensity was above the average for the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) of 2.26% in 2006 and in Germany at 2.53% in 2006, and was approaching that of the United States at 2.68% in 2007.

However, the agency said Singapore still lagged behind R&D intensive economies such as Finland 3.41% in 2008, Sweden 3.63% in 2007, Japan 3.39% in 2006 and South Korea 3.22% in 2006.