The 2023 R&D expenditures represented 1.38% of the central government budget and constituted 0.38% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which stood at 26 trillion 276 billion 307 million TRY.
Looking ahead to 2024, Türkiye has allocated 174 billion 627 million TRY for R&D activities in the central government budget.
A significant portion of the R&D funding in 2023 went to universities, with 70.8% earmarked for the general advancement of knowledge. Other notable allocations included 5.8% for industrial production and technology, 5.5% for general advancement of knowledge (financed from sources other than General University Funds), 4.5% for defense, and 3.9% for agriculture.
Projections for 2024 indicate that universities will continue to receive the highest appropriation for general advancement of knowledge, with an estimated 73.2%. Other socio-economic objectives include 5.1% for general advancement of knowledge from other sources, 4.9% for defense, and 4.9% for industrial production and technology.
In 2023, national public funding to transnationally coordinated R&D totaled 2.2 billion TRY. The largest share, 1.3 billion TRY, was allocated to Europe-wide transnational public R&D programs. Additional funds included 592 million TRY for transnational public R&D performers and 303 million TRY for bilateral or multilateral public R&D programs.
For 2024, the budget appropriations estimate 2.7 billion TRY will be allocated to transnationally coordinated R&D programs. Of this, 1.6 billion TRY is designated for Europe-wide transnational public R&D programs, 722 million TRY for transnational public R&D performers, and 357 million TRY for bilateral or multilateral public R&D programs.
These budget allocations highlight Türkiye's continued commitment to advancing R&D across various sectors and fostering international cooperation in research and development. (ILKHA)