The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced on Wednesday that Türkiye’s gross domestic expenditure on research and development (R&D) reached more than $4.4 billion (TL 81.9 billion) in 2021, with an increase of TL 26.9 billion compared to the previous year. TurkStat said the share of expenditures in gross domestic product reached 1.13%.

Türkiye was recently ranked 37th in the Global Innovation Index 2022, jumping four places from a year ago and making it into the top 40 for the first time ever. The country has covered significant ground in the ranking of the world’s most innovative countries, according to a fresh report by the U.N.'s World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) published in September.

TurkStat said financial and non-financial corporations had the largest share in expenditures, at 70.7%, followed by higher education institutions. In 2021, financial and non-financial corporations ranked first in R&D funding, followed by "general government" and higher education. Funds from abroad made up only 1.9% of the expenditures. The number of R&D personnel stood at 221,811 in 2021, with women making up 32.1% of the workforce, according to TurkStat.

The highest R&D expenditure was in the capital Ankara, which was followed by Istanbul and its neighboring provinces.