In 2019, Liechtenstein was ranked as one of the world’s most research-intensive countries. In specific terms, Liechtenstein spent 5.6% of its GDP on research and development activities. Overall, 98 percent of the total of 375.4 million Swiss francs invested internally is attributable to private companies.

According to the data generated by the Liechtenstein Office for Statistics (AS) on Research and Development 2019, companies, research institutions and government agencies in Liechtenstein spent a total of 375.4 million Swiss francs on internal research and development (R&D) activities in the reporting year. Moreover, a further 184.9 million Swiss francs was spent on external R&D services. In an international comparison, Liechtenstein therefore ranks in one of the top spots with R&D expenditure amounting to 5.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the analysts explain.
At 366.5 million Swiss francs, or 98 percent, the lion’s share of internal expenditure came from private companies in the country. Overall, 75.3 percent of the funds were used for experimental development. Conversely, 48.5 percent and 42.9 percent respectively of the funds spent by the state's research institutions in the amount of 8.4 million Swiss francs were invested in basic and applied research.
In 2019, a total of 1,367 people were employed as researchers, technical staff and assistants. In this context, the analysts identify a substantial dependency on the part of the research sector in Liechtenstein on foreign specialists. According to their data, the share of researchers with Liechtenstein citizenship made up just 9.4 percent of all researchers in 2019. The equivalent values for technical staff and assistants were 29.0 percent and 23.0 percent respectively.

Back to overview