Bangladesh's R&D expenditure among lowest globally, reveals BBS survey

Infographics: TBS

Bangladesh's gross research and development expenditure (GERD) as a share of GDP was a mere 0.30% for the fiscal 2020-21, according to a survey report released by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) on Monday (27 May).

GERD was 0.35% and 0.31% of GDP in the preceding two fiscal years, respectively. These figures place Bangladesh among the lowest in the world in terms of research and development (R&D) investment.

"Despite achieving an average GDP growth rate of 6.5% since the beginning of the last decade, and transitioning from one of the poorest countries in 1971 to lower-middle-income status in 2015, Bangladesh continues to lag significantly in research and development," says the BBS report.

This shortfall is critical, as a country's progress is directly tied to its R&D efforts, says the report, adding that insufficient investment in research can hinder overall progress and development.

Bangladesh's inadequate spending on R&D is evident in the Global Innovation Index 2022, where the country ranked 102nd. In comparison, India ranked 40th, Indonesia 75th, Sri Lanka 85th, Pakistan 87th, and Cambodia 97th.

The total R&D expenditure for the fiscals 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21 was Tk101.92 crore, Tk98.85 crore, and Tk104.81 crore, respectively.

Binayak Sen, director general of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), said, "There is no alternative to research for future progress."

He said, "Bangladesh has achieved success in rice research…Agricultural research is essential for ensuring food security.

"Research is also important for the advancement of the industrial sector. Both the government and private sector should come forward in this regard."

According to the BBS report, regarding the type of research, expenditure for experimental development constituted 50.41%, 53.13%, and 52.70% of the overall R&D expenditure in FY19, FY20 and FY21, respectively.

Applied research accounted for 39.34%, 37.40%, and 38.32% of the total expenditure, while basic research, the lowest category, represented 10.25%, 9.47%, and 8.98% for the same periods.

The report said this trend indicates that R&D performers are increasingly focused on developing new products and processes rather than investing in fundamental research. This shift has generated a new focus on short-term innovation and has caused us to worry about a lack of long-term progress.

It is also important to note that a lack of adequate allocation of resources towards basic research may present a potential limitation in our ability to make significant advancements and uncover groundbreaking discoveries, it reads.

The expenditure breakdown indicates that wages and salaries accounted for 20.76%, 20.90%, and 19.86% of the total R&D expenditure in these fiscal years. Other current expenses were recorded at 17.99%, 17.98%, and 18.30%, while capital expenditure stood at 61.25%, 61.12%, and 61.84% for the respective fiscal years.

Agricultural science tops in R&D expenditure

In FY19, FY20 and FY21, research and development expenditure related to agricultural sciences respectively, received about 31.79%, 31.27% and 31.36% of total research and development expenditure.

Natural science came in second with 22.16%, 21.85% and 22.27% as well as engineering and technology came in third with 17.83%, 18.13% and 17.82%, said the BBS report.

On the other hand, humanities-related research and development expenditure for these fiscal years was the lowest at 7.02%, 7.01% and 6.95%, respectively.

According to the report, the majority of research and development funding comes from domestic sources, including the government and private companies, as international partners are not the primary source of such funding.