SDG 9.5.1 Research and development expenditure as a proportion of GDP, information are published by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS).
Definition: The UN SDG Indicators metadata repository provides the definition: Metadata-09-05-01.pdf
The report ‘Research and Development Budget 2024-2025, Government Budget Allocations for Research and Development’, is published by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS).
This report presents data from the Government R&D Budget Survey and Ireland’s R&D (Research and development) expenditure across all sectors for 2024–2025. It provides a comprehensive overview of public research spending, developed in close collaboration with the 45 government departments and agencies that participated in the survey.
While the report focuses primarily on R&D expenditure in the public sector, it also incorporates selected data from the Business Enterprise and Higher Education sectors.
Government Budget Allocations for R&D (GBARD) for Ireland rose by 10.2% between 2023 and 2024, reaching €1,158m. Based on survey respondents’ allocations for 2025, GBARD is projected to grow by only 0.6% in 2025, bringing the total to an estimated €1,165m. Over the past decade, GBARD has increased by 59.3%, indicating long-term growth despite the recent slowdown.
As a percentage of GDP/GNI* (the GBARD intensity rate), GBARD remained similar in 2024 to the previous two years with amounts of 0.21% and 0.36%, respectively. See Table 6.1.
In addition to government expenditure on R&D, a country’s overall investment in R&D is measured through R&D expenditure undertaken by the Business Enterprise and Higher Education sectors. Together, these three components form GERD (Gross Expenditure on Research and Development).
In 2024, Ireland’s Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) was estimated to have fallen to €7.758 billion, following a peak of €8.099 billion in the previous year. This variation primarily relates to a revision made by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) to its 2022 BERD (Business Expenditure on R&D) estimated figure which is a major component of GERD. The revision reflects a methodological change in tandem with an increase in R&D expenditure by a small number of enterprises. Taking into account the CSO’s BERD revision, GERD expressed as a percentage of GDP/GNI* stood at an estimated 1.48% and 2.47% respectively in 2024.
Ireland’s GERD in 2025, is estimated to be around €8.4 billion, resulting in an estimate of 2.6% of GNI* (*Modified Gross National Income). See Table 6.2.
The CSO’s release Business Expenditure on Research and Development measures the Research & Development (R&D) activities of enterprises in Ireland including expenditure, personnel, and sources of funding. Information is available in the above link.
SDG 9.5.2 Researchers (in full-time equivalent) per million inhabitants, information are published by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS).
Definition: The UN SDG Indicators metadata repository provides the definition: Metadata-09-05-02.pdf
The report ‘Research and Development Budget 2024-2025, Government Budget Allocations for Research and Development’, is published by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS).
In 2024, an estimated 45,254 FTE (full-time equivalent) personnel were engaged in R&D across all sectors of the economy, marking a 3.5% increase compared to the previous year. This growth was broadly consistent across the three sectors, with the Business and Higher Education sectors each recording a 3.5% rise, while the Government sector saw a 4.5% increase.
Of the total 2024 R&D Personnel workforce, 61% were employed in the Business sector, 36% in Higher Education, and the remaining 3% in Government.
Ireland's population data can be accessed in Table PEA01, to estimate the number of researchers per million inhabitants. See Table 6.3.
The CSO’s release Business Expenditure on Research and Development measures the Research & Development (R&D) activities of enterprises in Ireland including expenditure, personnel, and sources of funding. Information is available in the above link.
SDG 9.a.1 Total official international support (official development assistance plus other official flows) to infrastructure, information is provided by the Dept. Foreign Affairs & Trade and the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).
Definition: The UN SDG Indicators metadata repository provides the definition: Metadata-09-0A-01.pdf
Ireland’s total Official Development Assistance (ODA) for 2024 was €2.35 billion, representing 0.56% of Gross National Income (GNI). With Ukrainian refugee support (IDRC) excluded, the figure was €1.72 billion, or 0.41% as a percentage of GNI. This is up from 0.38% in 2023. See Table 6.4.
In the Economic Infrastructure & Services sector subheadings, energy accounted for €2.0 million, and Business & Other Services accounted for €1.8 million, in 2024. See Table 6.5.
SDG 9.b.1 Proportion of medium and high-tech industry value added in total value added; information is provided by the CSO, National Accounts Division.
Definition: The UN SDG Indicators metadata repository provides the definition: SDG 9.b.1 metadata document
The proportion of medium-high and high-tech industry (MHT) value added in total value added of manufacturing (MVA) is a ratio value between the value added of MHT industry and MVA.
MVA is the value added of manufacturing industry, which is Section C of ISIC Rev.4 or Section D of ISIC Rev.3.
Medium and high-tech industries (MHT) are subsectors of Manufacturing (NACE C) and are detailed in the Background Notes.
Information from CSO National Accounts publications are provided here, giving detailed information on the economy.
In the CSO National Accounts 2024 publication, the section Gross Value Added by Activity provides gross value added (GVA) at basic prices in current terms for 37 sectors of the economy according to the NACE Rev. 2 classification system. Table 5.4 in the CSO National Accounts 2024 publication provides valuations of GVA for the sectors at 'basic prices'. 'Basic prices' is the valuation used in EU publications and differs from 'factor cost' in that overhead taxes (such as rates) are included in the basic prices valuations while overhead subsidies are excluded.
Gross Value Added (GVA) at basic prices in current terms increased from €496.8 billion in 2023 to €533.1 billion in 2024.
Manufacturing GVA at basic prices in current terms increased from €156.4 billion to €166.4 billion over the same time period. See Table NA005
Medium and high-tech industries (MHT) (subsectors of Manufacturing defined in the Background Notes) Gross Value Added (GVA) is detailed in Table NA016
SDG 9.c.1 Proportion of population covered by a mobile network, by technology; information is provided by the Commission for Communication Regulation (ComReg). Additional data on Smart technology usage is published by the CSO.
Definition: The UN SDG Indicators metadata repository provides the definition: Metadata-09-0C-01.pdf
The Commission for Communication Regulation (ComReg) is the statutory body responsible for the regulation of the electronic communications and postal sector. They have a wide range of responsibilities in electronic communications services & networks, posts and spectrum management. ComReg operate under Irish and EU legislation.
ComReg’s Quarterly Key Data Reports provide information on mobile phone subscriptions. Data here is from the Quarterly Key Data Report Q4 2025.
ComReg collects statistical data from authorised operators on a quarterly basis. Not all such operators are included in this data collection (based on minimum revenue levels), but ComReg aims to represent 95% of the total markets. This data includes information on subscriptions, lines, revenues, broadband speeds, minutes and data usage for both fixed and mobile voice and broadband. The data and charts in the report are a subset of the information collected. The detailed presentations of data are available on the ComReg data portal.
Mobile Market: At the end of Q4 2025 there were 10,844,594 mobile subscriptions in Ireland, including mobile broadband (MBB) and Machine to Machine (M2M). If mobile broadband subscriptions (393,979) and M2M subscriptions (4,367,068) are excluded, the total number of mobile voice subscriptions was 6,083,547. See Table 6.6.
A CSO series of Information Society publications provide data on households. These include the CSO series of publications on Household Digital Consumer Behaviour, Internet Coverage and Usage in Ireland and Smart Technology. Click on the above links to explore the detailed data in the reports.
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