Definitive figures reveal the Dutch corporate sector spent nearly €7.7bn on research and development in 2015, slightly more than in the previous year, the national statistics office CBS said.

Some 56% of all R&D spending in the Netherlands in 2015 was made by the corporate sector. When the public sector (public institutions and education) are added in total R&D spending reached €13.7bn, or just over 2% of GDP.

There were more thann 20,000 Dutch firms with budgets for R&D that year, but 10 large companies accounted for more than 25% of the total spend, the CBS said. Their spending was boosted by capital expenditures for laboratories and the like.

R&D activities accounted for some 81,000 man/hours of work in 2015, the first time it had passed the 80,000 mark since 2011. When the public sector is tallied in, total R&D man/hours reached 129,000.