Population & Scope
Population & Scope Geographic coverage Geographic coverage September 2023 edition of MSTI
Comments or questions regarding MSTI can be sent to RDSurvey@oecd.org.
MSTI documentation: https://www.oecd.org/sti/inno/MSTI_documentation_e.pdf
General description:
The OECD Main Science and Technology Indicators (MSTI) are a statistical publication prepared by the Science and Technology Policy (STP) Division of the OECD Directorate for Science, Technology, and Innovation under the aegis of the OECD Working Party of National Experts on Science and Technology Indicators (NESTI), a subsidiary body of the OECD Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy. MSTI provides a set of indicators that reflect the level and the structure of the efforts undertaken by OECD member countries and selected non-member economies. Its contents draw principally on data on financial and human resources devoted to research and experimental development (R&D) as defined in the OECD Frascati Manual, complemented by additional indicators of outputs and potential outcomes of scientific and technological activities, namely patent data and international trade in R&D-intensive industries. In addition to these, MSTI comprises several economic and demographic series from other OECD sources which are used to calculate adjusted indicators which account for differences in the relative size of economies, purchasing power and the effect of inflation.
Territorial coverage of latest available edition:
MSTI coverage is defined by the reporting by countries to OECD of R&D statistics that are consistent with the Frascati Manual. These are based on data provided by responsible national bodies to the OECD annual call for R&D data from OECD member countries and selected non-member economies. In its latest available edition, MSTI reports indicators on all 38 OECD Member countries with most recent data typically reaching up to 2021 (2022 in the case of R&D budgets). Costa Rica, which became the 38th member of the OECD in May 2021, has been included in MSTI for the first time in the September 2023 edition.
Indicators are also compiled for the OECD aggregate zone, the European Union (EU-27 zone), as well as seven non-member economies: Argentina, People's Republic of China (hereafter "China"), Romania, Russian Federation, Singapore, South Africa and Chinese Taipei.
In response to Russia's large-scale aggression against Ukraine, the OECD Council decided on 8 March 2022 to immediately suspend the participation of Russia and Belarus in OECD bodies. In view of this decision, the OECD suspended its solicitation of official statistics on R&D from Russian authorities, leading to the absence of more recent R&D statistics for this country in the OECD database, while previously compiled data are still available.
In the March 2023 edition, the OECD suppressed and put on hold the publication of several R&D indicators for China because of concerns about the coherence of expenditure and personnel data. Chinese officials have since confirmed errors in the business R&D data submitted to OECD in February 2023 and revised figures subsequently. While the revised breakdowns between manufacturing and other sectors is now deemed coherent, few details are available about the structure of China's R&D in the service sector which has been significantly increasing in size. China provided additional explanations on the growth rates in the higher education and government sectors in 2019, as well as the discrepancies between personnel and expenditure trends in both sectors. Total estimates of GERD and its institutional sector components (BERD, HERD, GOVERD) for 2019 to 2021 have not been modified by China and have been published as reported to OECD. The OECD continues to encourage China and other non member economies to engage in comprehensive reporting of R&D statistics and metadata.
Mexico clarified that the biennial National Survey on Research and Technological Development (ESIDET) has not been conducted since 2017 and data reported to OECD had been extrapolated. Accordingly, the OECD decided to suppress R&D estimates from Mexico from reference year 2018 until further confirmation that data collection and estimation procedures consistent with Frascati Manual guidance have been resumed.
Sources:
R&D indicators: the data are derived from national R&D surveys and budgets and are supplied by national statistical agencies to the Secretariat via an OECD/Eurostat co-ordinated collection.
Patent indicators: The data on patents filed at intellectual property offices (EPO, JPO, USPTO) are mainly derived from EPO's Worldwide Statistical Patent Database (PATSTAT). Triadic patent families series have been compiled by the Secretariat. PCT applications series are based on EPO's PATSTAT EP Register.
Indicators of trade performance in R&D intensive industries: OECD Bilateral Trade in Goods by Industry and End-use Category database (BTDIxE).
September 2023 edition of MSTI
Comments or questions regarding MSTI can be sent to RDSurvey@oecd.org.
MSTI documentation: https://www.oecd.org/sti/inno/MSTI_documentation_e.pdf
General description:
The OECD Main Science and Technology Indicators (MSTI) are a statistical publication prepared by the Science and Technology Policy (STP) Division of the OECD Directorate for Science, Technology, and Innovation under the aegis of the OECD Working Party of National Experts on Science and Technology Indicators (NESTI), a subsidiary body of the OECD Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy. MSTI provides a set of indicators that reflect the level and the structure of the efforts undertaken by OECD member countries and selected non-member economies. Its contents draw principally on data on financial and human resources devoted to research and experimental development (R&D) as defined in the OECD Frascati Manual, complemented by additional indicators of outputs and potential outcomes of scientific and technological activities, namely patent data and international trade in R&D-intensive industries. In addition to these, MSTI comprises several economic and demographic series from other OECD sources which are used to calculate adjusted indicators which account for differences in the relative size of economies, purchasing power and the effect of inflation.
Territorial coverage of latest available edition:
MSTI coverage is defined by the reporting by countries to OECD of R&D statistics that are consistent with the Frascati Manual. These are based on data provided by responsible national bodies to the OECD annual call for R&D data from OECD member countries and selected non-member economies. In its latest available edition, MSTI reports indicators on all 38 OECD Member countries with most recent data typically reaching up to 2021 (2022 in the case of R&D budgets). Costa Rica, which became the 38th member of the OECD in May 2021, has been included in MSTI for the first time in the September 2023 edition.
Indicators are also compiled for the OECD aggregate zone, the European Union (EU-27 zone), as well as seven non-member economies: Argentina, People's Republic of China (hereafter "China"), Romania, Russian Federation, Singapore, South Africa and Chinese Taipei.
In response to Russia's large-scale aggression against Ukraine, the OECD Council decided on 8 March 2022 to immediately suspend the participation of Russia and Belarus in OECD bodies. In view of this decision, the OECD suspended its solicitation of official statistics on R&D from Russian authorities, leading to the absence of more recent R&D statistics for this country in the OECD database, while previously compiled data are still available.
In the March 2023 edition, the OECD suppressed and put on hold the publication of several R&D indicators for China because of concerns about the coherence of expenditure and personnel data. Chinese officials have since confirmed errors in the business R&D data submitted to OECD in February 2023 and revised figures subsequently. While the revised breakdowns between manufacturing and other sectors is now deemed coherent, few details are available about the structure of China's R&D in the service sector which has been significantly increasing in size. China provided additional explanations on the growth rates in the higher education and government sectors in 2019, as well as the discrepancies between personnel and expenditure trends in both sectors. Total estimates of GERD and its institutional sector components (BERD, HERD, GOVERD) for 2019 to 2021 have not been modified by China and have been published as reported to OECD. The OECD continues to encourage China and other non member economies to engage in comprehensive reporting of R&D statistics and metadata.
Mexico clarified that the biennial National Survey on Research and Technological Development (ESIDET) has not been conducted since 2017 and data reported to OECD had been extrapolated. Accordingly, the OECD decided to suppress R&D estimates from Mexico from reference year 2018 until further confirmation that data collection and estimation procedures consistent with Frascati Manual guidance have been resumed.
Sources:
R&D indicators: the data are derived from national R&D surveys and budgets and are supplied by national statistical agencies to the Secretariat via an OECD/Eurostat co-ordinated collection.
Patent indicators: The data on patents filed at intellectual property offices (EPO, JPO, USPTO) are mainly derived from EPO's Worldwide Statistical Patent Database (PATSTAT). Triadic patent families series have been compiled by the Secretariat. PCT applications series are based on EPO's PATSTAT EP Register.
Indicators of trade performance in R&D intensive industries: OECD Bilateral Trade in Goods by Industry and End-use Category database (BTDIxE).