Australian businesses lifted their research and development spending by 18 per cent to $24.4 billion in 2023–24, driven by surging investment in artificial intelligence and software, according to new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). business R&D intensity held steady at 0.9 per cent of GDP, keeping pace with the broader economy.
Robert Ewing, ABS head of business statistics, said: ‘The strongest growth in R&D was seen in the Information and computing sciences research field. This includes spending on Artificial Intelligence, or AI, which grew by 142 per cent since 2021-2022.
‘Businesses more than doubled their investment, putting $668.3 million into AI R&D in 2023-24, compared to $276.3 million in 2021-22. This shows how rapidly Australian firms have begun investing in AI.
‘But it was Software engineering that made the largest contribution to the Information and computing sciences research field. This category grew by 26 per cent to $4.9 billion.’
By industry, Professional, scientific and technical services accounted for the largest share of business R&D at 38 per cent, or $9.2 billion. Manufacturing followed at 21 per cent ($5.0 billion), and Financial and insurance services at 14 per cent ($3.5 billion). Mining reached $1.2 billion, with Wholesale trade at $1.19 billion and Information media and telecommunications at $912 million. Agriculture, forestry and fishing rose to $548 million, electricity, gas, water and waste services to $483 million, Retail trade to $472 million, and Administrative and support services to $292 million.
The ABS also reported shifts in spending by intended purpose, known as Socio-Economic Objective (SEO). ‘R&D spending on Information and communication services is now the leading SEO in Australia, overtaking Manufacturing,’ Mr Ewing said. ‘Growth in Information and communication services was up 50 per cent to $5.9 billion. Manufacturing dropped 3 per cent to $4.6 billion, continuing a downward trend since 2019-20.’
Health-related R&D rose to $3.7 billion, Commercial services and tourism reached $3.2 billion, Energy climbed to $1.3 billion, and Mineral resources (excluding energy resources) increased to $1.0 billion.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics.
