Spending in research and development (R&D) within the private sector in Brazil have seen an increase despite the economic downturn of recent years, according to a recent study.

Released by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC), the research National Indicators of Science, Technology and Innovation 2017 suggests that private sector investment in R&D in Brazil has gone from 0,57 percent of total spend in 2014 to 0,61 percent in the following year. 

This means that investments in innovation by companies have gone from 37,4 billion reais ($11,8 billion) in 2014 to 38,1 billion reais ($12 billion) in 2015.

Meanwhile, R&D spending in the public sector has decreased from 0,67 percent in 2014 to 0,64 percent in 2015. Brazil spends more than other countries spend on R&D, such as China, with 0,44 percent, Japan (0,54 percent) and the UK (0,48 percent).

However, private sector investment in R&D in these three countries currently sits at 1,54 percent, 2,72 percent and 0,82 percent respectively.

According to the MCTIC survey, some 316,495 people work in R&D in Brazil, including researchers and support staff. Of that total, 237,585 are in academia, 69,746 in the private sector, 9,935 in government and 1,816 in the non-profit sector.