Switzerland invested CHF 24.6 billion into research and development (R&D) in 2021, 4% more than pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

With R&D investment making up 3.4% of GDP, Switzerland comes in fourth place globally behind the US with 3.5%, South Korea with 4.9%, and Israel with 5.6%.

In addition, the 4% rise in research and development investment in the country in 2021 compared to 2019 saw the majority of activities carried out in higher education institutions (28%) and private enterprises (68%) by almost 140,000 people, Le News reports. The remaining 4% of research was undertaken by the federal government and non-profit organisations.

Indeed, Switzerland’s government was a key source of research and development funding, making up 27% of the total spent in 2021, a 3% rise over 2019.

The principal change between 2019 and 2021 was a sharp 41% decline in the amount of R&D funding from overseas. This was attributed to Switzerland being excluded from the Horizon Europe Programme.

Furthermore, according to data published last week by Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office, there are almost twice as many men as women in research and development roles in Switzerland.

Back in 2020, 36% of R&D researchers were women, whilst 64% were men. Whereas in Europe, Switzerland trailed Iceland with 45%, Portugal with 43%, Spain with 42%, Russia with 39% and Norway with 39%. Yet, in contrast, Switzerland was ahead of Italy at 35%, Finland at 33%, Sweden at 33%, Austria at 30%, France at 28% and Germany at 28%.

Moreover, female researchers outnumbered men, the findings showed. A total of 57% of researchers in agriculture and veterinary science were women, along with 53% of researchers in the humanities and arts. Yet in other fields, the percentage of women was comparatively lower, such as natural sciences (33%) and engineering and technology (26%).