South African national survey of research and experimental development: business at a glance, 2023/2024. Fact sheet 66

Business sector spending on R&D has stabilized since the decline during the COVID-19 pandemic The business sector contributed just under 35% to total expenditure on R&D in South Africa in 2023/24, although its own R&D spending dipped slightly to R9.963 billion. R&D in the sector focused on mainly medical and health sciences, engineering, and ICT. Over the past decade, business R&D personnel levels have shifted notably, with declining numbers of researchers and technicians but strong growth in other R&D personnel roles since 2019/20.