RIYADH — The total expenditure on research and development in Saudi Arabia reached SR14.5 billion in 2021, the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) revealed.

The authority released on Wednesday the research and development statistics publication for 2021.

The publication showed that the number of workers in this field reached 30,220, and the number of researchers recorded during 2021 reached 24,808.

The government recorded the highest percentage of expenditure on research and development, at 50 percent of its total expenditure, followed by the private sector with 35 percent.

The education sector spent 15 percent of its expenditure on research and development. It registered the largest percentage of workers, 25,178, in the field of research and development, or 83 percent of the total number.

The government recorded 2,967 workers, or 10 percent of total workers, while the private sector ranked last with 2,075 workers, or 7 percent, in 2021, according to the publication. — SG