List of companies by research and development spending explained

The following list sorts companies with the highest expenditures for research and development (R&D) for different years, mostly taken from the magazine Strategy+Business.

2022 top 20

The 20 companies with the highest research and development expenses in 2022.^[1]

Rank	Company	Country	Sector	Expenditures on R&D (billions of US$)
1	Amazon		Software and Internet	73.21
2	Alphabet Inc.		Software and Internet	39.50
3	Meta Platforms, Inc.		Software and Internet	35.34
4	Apple		Computing and Electronics	27.65
5	Microsoft		Software and Internet	26.63
6	Huawei		Computing and Electronics	24.00
7	Volkswagen Group		Automotive	19.88
8	Samsung Electronics		Computing and Electronics	19.29
9	Intel		Computing and Electronics	17.53
10	Roche Holding		Health Care	14.72
11	Johnson & Johnson		Health Care	14.6
12	Merck & Co.		Health Care	13.55
13	Pfizer		Health Care	11.43
14	Novartis		Health Care	10
15	General Motors		Automotive	9.8
16	AstraZeneca	/	Health Care	9.76
17	Bristol Myers Squibb		Health Care	9.51
18	Tencent		Software and Internet	9.12
19	Qualcomm		Computing and Electronics	8.52
20	Alibaba Group		Software and Internet	7.98

2020 top 10

The 10 companies with the highest research and development expenses in 2020.^[2]

Rank	Company	Country	Sector	Expenditures on R&D (billions of US$)
1	Amazon		Software and Internet	42.74
2	Alphabet Inc.		Software and Internet	27.57
3	Huawei		Computing and Electronics	22.04
4	Microsoft		Software and Internet	19.27
5	Apple		Computing and Electronics	18.75
5	Samsung Electronics		Computing and Electronics	18.75
6	Facebook, Inc.		Software and Internet	18.45
7	Volkswagen Group		Automotive
8	Intel		Computing and Electronics
9	Roche Holding		Health Care
10	Johnson & Johnson		Health Care

2018 top 50

The 50 companies with the highest research and development expenses in 2018.^[3]

Rank	Company	Country	Sector	Expenditures on R&D (billions of US$)
1	Amazon		Software and Internet	22.62
2	Alphabet Inc.		Software and Internet	16.23
3	Volkswagen Group		Automotive	15.77
4	Samsung Electronics		Computing and Electronics	15.31
5	Microsoft		Software and Internet	14.74
6	Huawei		Computing and Electronics	13.60
7	Intel		Computing and Electronics	13.10
8	Apple Inc.		Computing and Electronics	11.58
9	Roche Holding		Health Care	10.80
10	Johnson & Johnson		Health Care	10.55
11	Daimler AG		Automotive	10.40
12	Merck & Co.		Health Care	10.21
13	Toyota		Automotive	10.02
14	Novartis		Health Care	8.51
15	Ford Motor Company		Automotive	8.00
16	Facebook, Inc.		Software and Internet	7.75
17	Pfizer		Health Care	7.66
18	BMW		Automotive	7.33
19	General Motors		Automotive	7.30
20	Robert Bosch GmbH		Industrials	7.12
21	Honda		Automotive	7.08
22	Sanofi		Health Care	6.57
23	Bayer		Health Care	6.19
24	Siemens		Industrials	6.10
25	Oracle Corporation		Software and Internet	6.09
26	Cisco Systems		Computing and Electronics	6.06
27	GlaxoSmithKline		Health Care	6.05
28	Bristol-Myers Squibb		Health Care	5.96
29	Celgene		Health Care	5.92
30	Nokia		Computing and Electronics	5.90
31	IBM		Computing and Electronics	5.79
32	Qualcomm		Computing and Electronics	5.47
33	AstraZeneca	/	Health Care	5.41
34	Eli Lilly and Company		Health Care	5.28
35	Fiat Chrysler Automobiles	/	Automotive	5.14
36	AbbVie Inc.		Health Care	4.98
37	General Electric		Industrials	4.80
38	Dell		Computing and Electronics	4.76
39	Ericsson		Computing and Electronics	4.63
40	Nissan		Automotive	4.62
41	Sony		Computing and Electronics	4.32
42	Panasonic		Computing and Electronics	4.23
43	Denso		Automotive	4.21
44	SAP SE		Software and Internet	4.03
45	Gilead Sciences		Health Care	3.73
46	Continental AG		Automotive	3.73
47	Boehringer Ingelheim		Health Care	3.69
48	Alibaba Group		Software and Internet	3.63
49	Amgen		Health Care	3.56
50	Renault		Automotive	3.55

2017 top 20

The 20 companies with the highest research and development expenses in 2017 according to the Global Innovation 1000.^[4]

Rank	Company	Country	Sector	Expenditures on R&D (billions of US$)
1	Amazon		Software and Internet	16.1
2	Alphabet Inc.		Software and Internet	13.9
3	Intel		Computing and Electronics	12.7
4	Samsung		Computing and Electronics	12.7
5	Volkswagen Group		Automotive	12.1
6	Microsoft		Software and Internet	12.0
7	Roche Holding		Health Care	11.4
8	Merck & Co.		Health Care	10.1
9	Apple Inc.		Computing and Electronics	10.0
10	Novartis		Health Care	9.6
11	Toyota		Automotive	9.3
12	Johnson & Johnson		Health Care	9.1
13	General Motors		Automotive	8.1
14	Pfizer		Health Care	7.9
15	Ford Motor Company		Automotive	7.3
16	Daimler AG		Automotive	6.9
17	Oracle Corporation		Software and Internet	6.8
18	Cisco Systems		Computing and Electronics	6.3
19	Honda		Automotive	6.2
20	Facebook, Inc.		Software and Internet	5.9

2014 top 20

The 20 companies with the highest research and development expenses in 2014 according to the Global Innovation 1000.^[5]

Rank	Company	Country	Sector	Expenditures on R&D (billions of US$)
1	Volkswagen Group		Automotive	13.5
2	Samsung		Computing and Electronics	13.4
3	Intel		Computing and Electronics	10.6
4	Microsoft		Software and Internet	10.4
5	Roche Holding		Health Care	10.0
6	Novartis		Health Care	9.9
7	Toyota		Automotive	9.1
8	Johnson & Johnson		Health Care	8.2
9	Google		Software and Internet	8.0
10	Merck & Co.		Health Care	7.5
11	General Motors		Automotive	7.2
12	Daimler AG		Automotive	7.0
13	Pfizer		Health Care	6.7
14	Amazon		Software and Internet	6.4
15	Ford Motor Company		Automotive	6.4
16	Sanofi Aventis		Health Care	6.3
17	Honda		Automotive	6.3
18	IBM		Computing and Electronics	6.2
19	GlaxoSmithKline		Health Care	6.1
20	Cisco Systems		Computing and Electronics	5.9

2011 top 20

The 20 companies with the highest research and development expenses in 2011 according to the Global Innovation 1000.^[6]

Rank	Company	Country	Sector	Expenditures on R&D (millions of US$)
1	Roche Holding		Health Care	9,646
2	Pfizer		Health Care	9,413
3	Novartis		Health Care	9,070
4	Microsoft		Software and Internet	8,714
5	Merck & Co.		Health Care	8,591
6	Toyota		Automotive	8,546
7	Samsung		Computing and Electronics	7,873
8	Nokia		Computing and Electronics	7,778
9	General Motors		Automotive	6,962
10	Johnson & Johnson		Health Care	6,844
11	Intel		Computing and Electronics	6,576
12	Panasonic		Computing and Electronics	6,176
13	GlaxoSmithKline		Health Care	6,127
14	Volkswagen Group		Automotive	6,086
15	IBM		Computing and Electronics	6,026
16	Sanofi Aventis		Health Care	5,836
17	Honda		Automotive	5,704
18	AstraZeneca		Health Care	5,318
19	Cisco Systems		Computing and Electronics	5,273
20	Siemens		Industrials	5,217

2008 top 20

The 20 companies with the highest research and development expenses in 2008 according to the Global Innovation 1000.^[7]

Rank	Company	Country	Sector	Expenditures on R&D (millions of US$)
1	Toyota		Automotive	8,386
2	General Motors		Automotive	8,100
3	Pfizer		Health Care	8,089
4	Nokia		Computing and Electronics	7,727
5	Johnson & Johnson		Health Care	7,680
6	Ford Motor Company		Automotive	7,500
7	Microsoft		Software and Internet	7,121
8	Roche Holding		Health Care	6,985
9	Samsung		Computing and Electronics	6,536
10	GlaxoSmithKline		Health Care	6,476
11	Novartis		Health Care	6,430
12	Sanofi Aventis		Health Care	6,208
13	IBM		Computing and Electronics	6,153
14	Intel		Computing and Electronics	5,755
15	AstraZeneca		Health Care	5,162
16	Honda		Automotive	5,142
17	Merck & Co.		Health Care	4,883
18	Panasonic		Computing and Electronics	4,850
19	Volkswagen Group		Automotive	4,757
20	Sony		Computing and Electronics	4,553

Notes and References

1. Web site: Intelligence . fDi . Top 100 global innovation leaders . 2024-06-16 . www.fdiintelligence.com . en.
2. News: Bajpai . Prableen . Which Companies Spend the Most in Research and Development (R&D)? .
3. Web site: Top 1000 companies that spend the most on Research & Development (charts and analysis). Skillicorn. Nick. 2019-08-28. Idea to Value. en-US. 2020-02-07.
4. Web site: Will Stronger Borders Weaken Innovation?. Chwalik. Barry Jaruzelski, Volker Staack, and Robert. strategy+business. 2020-02-07.
5. Web site: The Global Innovation 1000: Proven Paths to Innovation Success. Goehle. Barry Jaruzelski, Volker Staack, and Brad. strategy+business. 2020-02-07.
6. Web site: The Global Innovation 1000: Why Culture Is Key. Holman. Barry Jaruzelski, John Loehr, and Richard. strategy+business. 2020-02-07.
7. Web site: Beyond Borders: The Global Innovation 1000. Dehoff. Barry Jaruzelski and Kevin. strategy+business. 2020-02-07.