The following list sorts companies with the highest expenditures for research and development (R&D) for different years, mostly taken from the magazine Strategy+Business.
2022 top 20
The 20 companies with the highest research and development expenses in 2022.1
| Rank | Company | Country | Sector | Expenditures on R&D (billions of US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amazon | United States | Software and Internet | 73.21 |
| 2 | Alphabet Inc. | United States | Software and Internet | 39.50 |
| 3 | Meta Platforms, Inc. | United States | Software and Internet | 35.34 |
| 4 | Apple | United States | Computing and Electronics | 27.65 |
| 5 | Microsoft | United States | Software and Internet | 26.63 |
| 6 | Huawei | China | Computing and Electronics | 24.00 |
| 7 | Volkswagen Group | Germany | Automotive | 19.88 |
| 8 | Samsung Electronics | South Korea | Computing and Electronics | 19.29 |
| 9 | Intel | United States | Computing and Electronics | 17.53 |
| 10 | Roche Holding | Switzerland | Health Care | 14.72 |
| 11 | Johnson & Johnson | United States | Health Care | 14.6 |
| 12 | Merck & Co. | United States | Health Care | 13.55 |
| 13 | Pfizer | United States | Health Care | 11.43 |
| 14 | Novartis | Switzerland | Health Care | 10 |
| 15 | General Motors | United States | Automotive | 9.8 |
| 16 | AstraZeneca | United Kingdom/ Sweden | Health Care | 9.76 |
| 17 | Bristol Myers Squibb | United States | Health Care | 9.51 |
| 18 | Tencent | China | Software and Internet | 9.12 |
| 19 | Qualcomm | United States | Computing and Electronics | 8.52 |
| 20 | Alibaba Group | China | Software and Internet | 7.98 |
2020 top 10
The 10 companies with the highest research and development expenses in 2020.2
| Rank | Company | Country | Sector | Expenditures on R&D (billions of US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amazon | United States | Software and Internet | 42.74 |
| 2 | Alphabet Inc. | United States | Software and Internet | 27.57 |
| 3 | Huawei | China | Computing and Electronics | 22.04 |
| 4 | Microsoft | United States | Software and Internet | 19.27 |
| 5 | Apple | United States | Computing and Electronics | 18.75 |
| 5 | Samsung Electronics | South Korea | Computing and Electronics | 18.75 |
| 6 | Facebook, Inc. | United States | Software and Internet | 18.45 |
| 7 | Volkswagen Group | Germany | Automotive | |
| 8 | Intel | United States | Computing and Electronics | |
| 9 | Roche Holding | Switzerland | Health Care | |
| 10 | Johnson & Johnson | United States | Health Care |
2018 top 50
The 50 companies with the highest research and development expenses in 2018.3
| Rank | Company | Country | Sector | Expenditures on R&D (billions of US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amazon | United States | Software and Internet | 22.62 |
| 2 | Alphabet Inc. | United States | Software and Internet | 16.23 |
| 3 | Volkswagen Group | Germany | Automotive | 15.77 |
| 4 | Samsung Electronics | South Korea | Computing and Electronics | 15.31 |
| 5 | Microsoft | United States | Software and Internet | 14.74 |
| 6 | Huawei | China | Computing and Electronics | 13.60 |
| 7 | Intel | United States | Computing and Electronics | 13.10 |
| 8 | Apple Inc. | United States | Computing and Electronics | 11.58 |
| 9 | Roche Holding | Switzerland | Health Care | 10.80 |
| 10 | Johnson & Johnson | United States | Health Care | 10.55 |
| 11 | Daimler AG | Germany | Automotive | 10.40 |
| 12 | Merck & Co. | United States | Health Care | 10.21 |
| 13 | Toyota | Japan | Automotive | 10.02 |
| 14 | Novartis | Switzerland | Health Care | 8.51 |
| 15 | Ford Motor Company | United States | Automotive | 8.00 |
| 16 | Facebook, Inc. | United States | Software and Internet | 7.75 |
| 17 | Pfizer | United States | Health Care | 7.66 |
| 18 | BMW | Germany | Automotive | 7.33 |
| 19 | General Motors | United States | Automotive | 7.30 |
| 20 | Robert Bosch GmbH | Germany | Industrials | 7.12 |
| 21 | Honda | Japan | Automotive | 7.08 |
| 22 | Sanofi | France | Health Care | 6.57 |
| 23 | Bayer | Germany | Health Care | 6.19 |
| 24 | Siemens | Germany | Industrials | 6.10 |
| 25 | Oracle Corporation | United States | Software and Internet | 6.09 |
| 26 | Cisco Systems | United States | Computing and Electronics | 6.06 |
| 27 | GlaxoSmithKline | United Kingdom | Health Care | 6.05 |
| 28 | Bristol-Myers Squibb | United States | Health Care | 5.96 |
| 29 | Celgene | United States | Health Care | 5.92 |
| 30 | Nokia | Finland | Computing and Electronics | 5.90 |
| 31 | IBM | United States | Computing and Electronics | 5.79 |
| 32 | Qualcomm | United States | Computing and Electronics | 5.47 |
| 33 | AstraZeneca | United Kingdom/ Sweden | Health Care | 5.41 |
| 34 | Eli Lilly and Company | United States | Health Care | 5.28 |
| 35 | Fiat Chrysler Automobiles | Italy/ United States | Automotive | 5.14 |
| 36 | AbbVie Inc. | United States | Health Care | 4.98 |
| 37 | General Electric | United States | Industrials | 4.80 |
| 38 | Dell | United States | Computing and Electronics | 4.76 |
| 39 | Ericsson | Sweden | Computing and Electronics | 4.63 |
| 40 | Nissan | Japan | Automotive | 4.62 |
| 41 | Sony | Japan | Computing and Electronics | 4.32 |
| 42 | Panasonic | Japan | Computing and Electronics | 4.23 |
| 43 | Denso | Japan | Automotive | 4.21 |
| 44 | SAP SE | Germany | Software and Internet | 4.03 |
| 45 | Gilead Sciences | United States | Health Care | 3.73 |
| 46 | Continental AG | Germany | Automotive | 3.73 |
| 47 | Boehringer Ingelheim | Germany | Health Care | 3.69 |
| 48 | Alibaba Group | China | Software and Internet | 3.63 |
| 49 | Amgen | United States | Health Care | 3.56 |
| 50 | Renault | France | Automotive | 3.55 |
2017 top 20
The 20 companies with the highest research and development expenses in 2017 according to the Global Innovation 1000.4
| Rank | Company | Country | Sector | Expenditures on R&D (billions of US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amazon | United States | Software and Internet | 16.1 |
| 2 | Alphabet Inc. | United States | Software and Internet | 13.9 |
| 3 | Intel | United States | Computing and Electronics | 12.7 |
| 4 | Samsung | South Korea | Computing and Electronics | 12.7 |
| 5 | Volkswagen Group | Germany | Automotive | 12.1 |
| 6 | Microsoft | United States | Software and Internet | 12.0 |
| 7 | Roche Holding | Switzerland | Health Care | 11.4 |
| 8 | Merck & Co. | United States | Health Care | 10.1 |
| 9 | Apple Inc. | United States | Computing and Electronics | 10.0 |
| 10 | Novartis | Switzerland | Health Care | 9.6 |
| 11 | Toyota | Japan | Automotive | 9.3 |
| 12 | Johnson & Johnson | United States | Health Care | 9.1 |
| 13 | General Motors | United States | Automotive | 8.1 |
| 14 | Pfizer | United States | Health Care | 7.9 |
| 15 | Ford Motor Company | United States | Automotive | 7.3 |
| 16 | Daimler AG | Germany | Automotive | 6.9 |
| 17 | Oracle Corporation | United States | Software and Internet | 6.8 |
| 18 | Cisco Systems | United States | Computing and Electronics | 6.3 |
| 19 | Honda | Japan | Automotive | 6.2 |
| 20 | Facebook, Inc. | United States | Software and Internet | 5.9 |
2014 top 20
The 20 companies with the highest research and development expenses in 2014 according to the Global Innovation 1000.5
| Rank | Company | Country | Sector | Expenditures on R&D (billions of US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Volkswagen Group | Germany | Automotive | 13.5 |
| 2 | Samsung | South Korea | Computing and Electronics | 13.4 |
| 3 | Intel | United States | Computing and Electronics | 10.6 |
| 4 | Microsoft | United States | Software and Internet | 10.4 |
| 5 | Roche Holding | Switzerland | Health Care | 10.0 |
| 6 | Novartis | Switzerland | Health Care | 9.9 |
| 7 | Toyota | Japan | Automotive | 9.1 |
| 8 | Johnson & Johnson | United States | Health Care | 8.2 |
| 9 | United States | Software and Internet | 8.0 | |
| 10 | Merck & Co. | United States | Health Care | 7.5 |
| 11 | General Motors | United States | Automotive | 7.2 |
| 12 | Daimler AG | Germany | Automotive | 7.0 |
| 13 | Pfizer | United States | Health Care | 6.7 |
| 14 | Amazon | United States | Software and Internet | 6.4 |
| 15 | Ford Motor Company | United States | Automotive | 6.4 |
| 16 | Sanofi Aventis | France | Health Care | 6.3 |
| 17 | Honda | Japan | Automotive | 6.3 |
| 18 | IBM | United States | Computing and Electronics | 6.2 |
| 19 | GlaxoSmithKline | United Kingdom | Health Care | 6.1 |
| 20 | Cisco Systems | United States | Computing and Electronics | 5.9 |
2011 top 20
The 20 companies with the highest research and development expenses in 2011 according to the Global Innovation 1000.6
| Rank | Company | Country | Sector | Expenditures on R&D (millions of US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roche Holding | Switzerland | Health Care | 9,646 |
| 2 | Pfizer | United States | Health Care | 9,413 |
| 3 | Novartis | Switzerland | Health Care | 9,070 |
| 4 | Microsoft | United States | Software and Internet | 8,714 |
| 5 | Merck & Co. | United States | Health Care | 8,591 |
| 6 | Toyota | Japan | Automotive | 8,546 |
| 7 | Samsung | South Korea | Computing and Electronics | 7,873 |
| 8 | Nokia | Finland | Computing and Electronics | 7,778 |
| 9 | General Motors | United States | Automotive | 6,962 |
| 10 | Johnson & Johnson | United States | Health Care | 6,844 |
| 11 | Intel | United States | Computing and Electronics | 6,576 |
| 12 | Panasonic | Japan | Computing and Electronics | 6,176 |
| 13 | GlaxoSmithKline | United Kingdom | Health Care | 6,127 |
| 14 | Volkswagen Group | Germany | Automotive | 6,086 |
| 15 | IBM | United States | Computing and Electronics | 6,026 |
| 16 | Sanofi Aventis | France | Health Care | 5,836 |
| 17 | Honda | Japan | Automotive | 5,704 |
| 18 | AstraZeneca | United Kingdom | Health Care | 5,318 |
| 19 | Cisco Systems | United States | Computing and Electronics | 5,273 |
| 20 | Siemens | Germany | Industrials | 5,217 |
2008 top 20
The 20 companies with the highest research and development expenses in 2008 according to the Global Innovation 1000.7
| Rank | Company | Country | Sector | Expenditures on R&D (millions of US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toyota | Japan | Automotive | 8,386 |
| 2 | General Motors | United States | Automotive | 8,100 |
| 3 | Pfizer | United States | Health Care | 8,089 |
| 4 | Nokia | Finland | Computing and Electronics | 7,727 |
| 5 | Johnson & Johnson | United States | Health Care | 7,680 |
| 6 | Ford Motor Company | United States | Automotive | 7,500 |
| 7 | Microsoft | United States | Software and Internet | 7,121 |
| 8 | Roche Holding | Switzerland | Health Care | 6,985 |
| 9 | Samsung | South Korea | Computing and Electronics | 6,536 |
| 10 | GlaxoSmithKline | United Kingdom | Health Care | 6,476 |
| 11 | Novartis | Switzerland | Health Care | 6,430 |
| 12 | Sanofi Aventis | France | Health Care | 6,208 |
| 13 | IBM | United States | Computing and Electronics | 6,153 |
| 14 | Intel | United States | Computing and Electronics | 5,755 |
| 15 | AstraZeneca | United Kingdom | Health Care | 5,162 |
| 16 | Honda | Japan | Automotive | 5,142 |
| 17 | Merck & Co. | United States | Health Care | 4,883 |
| 18 | Panasonic | Japan | Computing and Electronics | 4,850 |
| 19 | Volkswagen Group | Germany | Automotive | 4,757 |
| 20 | Sony | Japan | Computing and Electronics | 4,553 |
References
Intelligence, fDi. "Top 100 global innovation leaders". www.fdiintelligence.com. Retrieved 2024-06-16. https://www.fdiintelligence.com/content/feature/global-innovation-leaders-2022-edition-82527 ↩
Bajpai, Prableen. "Which Companies Spend the Most in Research and Development (R&D)?". https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/which-companies-spend-the-most-in-research-and-development-rd-2021-06-21 ↩
Skillicorn, Nick (2019-08-28). "Top 1000 companies that spend the most on Research & Development (charts and analysis)". Idea to Value. Retrieved 2020-02-07. https://www.ideatovalue.com/inno/nickskillicorn/2019/08/top-1000-companies-that-spend-the-most-on-research-development-charts-and-analysis/ ↩
Chwalik, Barry Jaruzelski, Volker Staack, and Robert. "Will Stronger Borders Weaken Innovation?". strategy+business. Retrieved 2020-02-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) https://www.strategy-business.com/feature/Will-Stronger-Borders-Weaken-Innovation?gko=5d1cf ↩
Goehle, Barry Jaruzelski, Volker Staack, and Brad. "The Global Innovation 1000: Proven Paths to Innovation Success". strategy+business. Retrieved 2020-02-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) https://www.strategy-business.com/article/00295?gko=8a0a5 ↩
Holman, Barry Jaruzelski, John Loehr, and Richard. "The Global Innovation 1000: Why Culture Is Key". strategy+business. Retrieved 2020-02-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) https://www.strategy-business.com/article/11404?gko=62080 ↩
Dehoff, Barry Jaruzelski and Kevin. "Beyond Borders: The Global Innovation 1000". strategy+business. Retrieved 2020-02-07. https://www.strategy-business.com/article/08405?gko=a47fe ↩