R&D in the business enterprise sector
In 2024, 2,836 companies carried out research and development (R&D), which spent 95 billion crowns on this activity, which was almost 65% of the total R&D expenditure in the Czech Republic. Most part of R&D in business enterprises sector were financed from enterprises sources, which accounted for almost 94% of R&D expenditures in the business sector. CZK 4.3 billion went to corporate R&D from government national sources and CZK 1.7 billion from EU sources. A total of 51.7 thousand persons in full-time equivalent worked in research and development in enterprises, among whom 19% were females.
Enterprises carrying out research and development (R&D)
Publication date: 23. 10. 2025
Year 2024
2,836
R&D expenditures in business enterprise sector
Publication date: 23. 10. 2025
Year 2024
95.0 CZK billion
Share of R&D expenditure in business enterprise sector in GDP
Publication date: 23. 10. 2025
Year 2024
1.18%
R&D personnel in business enterprise sector (Full-time equivalent)
Publication date: 23. 10. 2025
Year 2024
51,740
Share of women among R&D personnel in business enterprise sector
Publication date: 23. 10. 2025
Year 2024
18.7%
Data and time series
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprises carrying out R&D | 2,601 | 2,590 | 2,677 | 2,676 | 2,802 | 2,886 | 2,974 | 2,836 |
| R&D workplaces in business enterprise sector | 2,628 | 2,614 | 2,704 | 2,706 | 2,831 | 2,915 | 3,003 | 2,865 |
| R&D personnel - headcount1) | 55,232 | 58,409 | 60,247 | 60,695 | 63,544 | 65,398 | 66,160 | 65,630 |
| R&D personnel - full-time equivalent2) | 39,968 | 42,349 | 44,792 | 46,234 | 49,019 | 50,662 | 51,174 | 51,740 |
| R&D expenditures, total | 56,810 | 63,654 | 68,808 | 69,113 | 76,555 | 85,597 | 90,403 | 95,039 |
| Expenditure on R&D financed from government national sources - CZK million | 3,991 | 4,447 | 4,683 | 4,699 | 4,538 | 4,203 | 4,147 | 4,319 |
| Expenditure on R&D financed from EU sources - CZK million | 1,271 | 1,532 | 1,668 | 1,712 | 2,343 | 3,019 | 2,678 | 1,686 |
1) Registered number of employees fully or partially active in R&D activities as of December 31 of the monitored year
2) Recalculated number of persons for full annual working time dedicated to R&D
Source: CZSO, Annual survey on research and development VTR 5-01
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of enterprises | 2,601 | 2,590 | 2,677 | 2,676 | 2,802 | 2,886 | 2,974 | 2,836 | |
| Enterprises ownership | , | ||||||||
Public enterprises | 45 | 46 | 57 | 59 | 57 | 57 | 53 | 57 | |
Private national enterprises | 1,925 | 1,912 | 2,030 | 2,029 | 2,149 | 2,233 | 2,311 | 2,179 | |
Foreign-controlled enterprises | 631 | 632 | 590 | 588 | 596 | 596 | 610 | 600 | |
| Enterprises size | , | ||||||||
Small enterprises (0-49 employees) | 1,162 | 1,145 | 1,214 | 1,233 | 1,344 | 1,418 | 1,493 | 1,433 | |
Medium enterprises (50-249 employees) | 912 | 909 | 912 | 898 | 907 | 913 | 951 | 893 | |
Large enterprises (250 employees and more) | 527 | 536 | 551 | 545 | 551 | 555 | 530 | 510 | |
Source: CZSO, Annual survey on research and development VTR 5-01
* Recalculated number of persons for full annual working time dedicated to R&D.
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 39,968 | 42,349 | 44,792 | 46,234 | 49,019 | 50,662 | 51,174 | 51,740 | |
Males | 33,200 | 35,195 | 37,162 | 38,171 | 40,405 | 41,417 | 41,617 | 42,042 | |
Females | 6,768 | 7,154 | 7,631 | 8,063 | 8,614 | 9,245 | 9,557 | 9,698 | |
| Enterprises ownership | , | ||||||||
Public enterprises | 1,441 | 1,376 | 1,503 | 1,396 | 1,283 | 1,268 | 1,315 | 1,532 | |
Private national enterprises | 16,455 | 17,320 | 18,916 | 19,427 | 20,300 | 20,564 | 19,737 | 19,764 | |
Foreign-controlled enterprises | 22,071 | 23,653 | 24,373 | 25,411 | 27,436 | 28,830 | 30,122 | 30,444 | |
| Enterprises size | , | ||||||||
Small enterprises (0-49 employees) | 5,219 | 5,467 | 6,003 | 6,199 | 6,834 | 7,438 | 7,258 | 6,967 | |
Medium enterprises (50-249 employees) | 11,332 | 11,036 | 10,842 | 10,366 | 10,912 | 10,968 | 11,183 | 11,509 | |
Large enterprises (250 employees and more) | 23,417 | 25,846 | 27,947 | 29,670 | 31,274 | 32,256 | 32,734 | 33,264 | |
*) Recalculated number of persons for full annual working time dedicated to R&D
Source: CZSO, Annual survey on research and development VTR 5-01
(CZK million)
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 56,810 | 63,654 | 68,808 | 69,113 | 76,555 | 85,597 | 90,403 | 95,039 | |
| Enterprises ownership | , | ||||||||
Public enterprises | 2,448 | 2,168 | 2,187 | 2,317 | 2,301 | 2,317 | 2,642 | 2,907 | |
Private national enterprises | 17,495 | 19,464 | 21,991 | 23,085 | 26,110 | 28,835 | 28,898 | 28,815 | |
Foreign-controlled enterprises | 36,867 | 42,022 | 44,630 | 43,710 | 48,144 | 54,444 | 58,863 | 63,316 | |
| Enterprises size | , | ||||||||
Small enterprises (0-49 employees) | 4,773 | 5,732 | 6,088 | 6,861 | 7,861 | 9,233 | 9,895 | 10,086 | |
Medium enterprises (50-249 employees) | 11,818 | 12,769 | 12,432 | 11,846 | 13,275 | 15,335 | 16,561 | 17,644 | |
Large enterprises (250 employees and more) | 40,220 | 45,153 | 50,289 | 50,406 | 55,419 | 61,029 | 63,948 | 67,308 | |
Source: CZSO, Annual survey on research and development VTR 5-01