ONS change boosts recorded UK R&D spending by billions

Office for National Statistics review finds £15 billion more spent on R&D than previously thought

The Office for National Statistics has released initial revised estimates of the UK’s business spending on R&D using an “improved” methodology, which suggest that spending is about £15 billion per year higher than previously thought.

If the new ONS methodology is used going forward, as planned, the government may soon be able to claim that the nation spends a much higher percentage of its GDP on R&D, helping it achieve its targets without doing much else.