The number of people in Hungary carrying out R and D has doubled in just over a decade, the fastest growth in the European Union, according to a Eurostat report.
Last year, 42,000 people were employed in R and D, the report published in pro-government business daily Világgazdaság said on Wednesday.
Spending on R and D in the country has also risen steeply, accounting for 1.6 percent of GDP last year as against 1.13 percent in 2010.
Hungary is now spending proportionally more than countries such as Spain and Italy. This is largely thanks to the presence of an increasing number of companies, including foreign-owned R and D centres, in manufacturing. Spending tripled to 589 billion forints last year compared with 185 billion in 2010.
Accordingly, in-house research has grown 1.5 times in a decade, leaving universities and public research institutes well behind in their wake, the paper added.
featured image illustration via János Vajda/MTI
