South Africa’s gross expenditure on research and development (GERD) increased in 2017/2018 for the seventh year in succession, the 2017/18 National Research and Experimental Development Survey, published on Thursday, has reported. However, this growth trend is decelerating.

Furthermore, in terms of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), GERD was virtually unchanged. In 2016/2017 GERD amounted to 0.82% of South Africa’s GDP, while in 2017/2018 it came to 0.83%.

In current rand values, national GERD amounted to R38 725-billion in 2017/2018, as against R35 693-billion in 2016/2017. This represented a nominal 8.5% rise. When calculated in constant 2010 prices, GERD grew by 3.1% from 2016/2017 to 2017/2018, reaching R25 963-billion.