Korean Companies Rank 5th Globally with 60 Trillion Won in R&D Investment

Samsung Ranks 7th, SK hynix 42nd in Global R&D Investment
South Korea Achieves 5th Place Worldwide with 40 Companies on EU Scoreboard

The research and development (R&D) investment of 40 domestic companies reached 60.6244 trillion won (approximately 42.55 billion euros), ranking fifth in the world in terms of investment scale.

Samsung Electronics invested about 28.3397 trillion won (approximately 19.9 billion euros), accounting for about 46.7% of total R&D investment by Korean companies and ranking seventh globally. SK hynix invested about 7.5621 trillion won (approximately 5.3 billion euros), ranking 42nd.

According to a brief released on the 13th by the Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP), which analyzed the European Commission (EC)'s EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, the world's top 2,000 companies invested a record-high 1.2574 trillion euros (approximately 1,791.5 trillion won) in R&D in 2023. This represents a 7.7% (90.4 billion euros) increase from the previous year.

The United States accounted for 42.3% of the total, with 681 companies investing 531.86 billion euros. China followed with 524 companies investing 215.81 billion euros, representing 17.2%. Germany and Japan recorded 111.92 billion euros (8.9%) and 104.79 billion euros (8.3%), respectively.

South Korea had 40 companies on the list, investing 42.55 billion euros and capturing a 3.4% share, ranking fifth. The year-on-year growth rate was about 23.7%, higher than that of the G7 (United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Italy), China (up 9.6%), or Taiwan (up 1.5%).

By company, U.S. ICT firms such as Alphabet (1st), Meta (2nd), Apple (3rd), Microsoft (4th), and Intel (8th) dominated the top ranks. Volkswagen, a German automotive company, ranked 5th, and Huawei, a Chinese ICT company, ranked 6th. Among Korean companies, Samsung Electronics maintained its 7th place from the previous year and was the only domestic company in the top 10.

Samsung Electronics invested 19.89 billion euros (about 28.3397 trillion won), a 14.4% increase from the previous year, accounting for 46.7% of the total R&D investment by Korean companies in the top 2,000. SK hynix recorded 5.31 billion euros, a sharp 69.3% increase from the previous year, ranking 42nd and newly entering the top 50. The combined R&D investment of these two companies amounted to about 25.2 billion euros, representing 94.5% of R&D investment in the domestic ICT hardware sector.

LG Electronics (2.81 billion euros) and Hyundai Motor (2.79 billion euros) ranked 80th and 81st, respectively. LG Chem (1.43 billion euros) and LG Display (1.31 billion euros) ranked 166th and 180th. Hyundai Mobis (1.18 billion euros) ranked 210th, Samsung SDI (0.8 billion euros) 273rd, Hanwha (0.63 billion euros) 344th, Kia (0.55 billion euros) 392nd, Korea Electric Power Corporation (0.5 billion euros) 413th, and SK (0.5 billion euros) 415th, all making it into the top 2,000.

By industry, domestic companies invested overwhelmingly in ICT hardware, which accounted for 62.7% of R&D investment, followed by automobiles and parts (11.8%), others (10.3%), and industrial goods (7.9%).

A KISTEP official stated, "The year-on-year growth rate of investment was higher than that of advanced countries such as the G7." However, the official also analyzed that "since investment is concentrated in ICT hardware, R&D in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, or ICT software (SW) remains relatively low compared to major countries such as Japan, China, and the United Kingdom, and improvement is needed."