Research and Development

Switzerland invests over CHF 23 billion in research and development (R&D) annually, which makes it one of the largest R&D investors in the world. Two-thirds of all R&D is funded by the private sector.

Laboratory assistant at work.
Maschine manufacturing at Buehler AG, Uzwil © Hanspeter Baertschi

Switzerland invests over CHF 23 billion in research and development (R&D) annually, which equates to 3.15% of its gross domestic product. This makes it the seventh highest investor in R&D in the world.

The universities and the two federal institutes of technology – ETH Zurich and EPFL –  focus primarily on basic research. The universities of applied sciences and private sector, however, concentrate on applied research and responding to business needs.

The private sector is a major contributor to R&D in Switzerland, investing a total of CHF 15.5 billion (2.1% of GDP) in 2019. Three-quarters of this funding went to R&D-intensive sectors: the pharmaceuticals and chemical industry (36.7%), metals industry (13.7%), research laboratories (13%) and new technologies (11.3%).