Innovation as a driver of development
Expenditure on innovation is a driving force behind the development of productive activity. The Region of Murcia in 2000 invested 152,137,000 euros, which was 1.50% of the national total of 10,174,259,000 euros. In 2016 the investment had grown and passed to 193,411,000 euros, but the percentage of participation in the national total drops to 1.40%, although according to the INE survey in 2019 has recovered significantly the percentage of expenditure which has been placed at 1.80%.
The publication by the INE in December 2020 of spending on innovative activities, as shown in the table, has led to a significant growth in spending on Innovation in the Region and stands at 356,284,000 euros, 1.80% of the national total expenditure which was 19,389,865,000 euros, which is an important step forward, but still far behind communities such as Valencia which contributed 7.80%.
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INE data show that the communities with the highest spending on innovative activities in 2019 were Madrid with 28.80% of the national total, followed by Catalonia 27.10% and the Basque Country with 8.80%. The average growth rate was 3.80% and the growth in spending in the Region was 1.00%.
Of the total 19,389,865,000 euros spent on innovative activities by activity at the national level, 1.00% corresponded to Agriculture with 193,129,000 euros, which represents a growth rate of 2.30% over the previous year, 46.80% to Industry with 9,067,741. 000 euros, which represents a negative annual rate of -059%, to Construction 1.50% with 287,239,000 euros, with an annual rate of 55.00% showing the recovery of this sector and to Services 50.80% with 9,841,757,000 euros, which represents a growth rate of this sector over the previous year of 7.40% and is the sector with the highest investment.
The distribution of spending on innovative activities in 2019 by branch of activity shows that motor vehicles accounted for 10.40% of spending on innovation, R&D services 9.90%, programming, consulting and other computer activities 8.30%, financial activities and insurance 7.90%, trade 6.90%, pharmacy 6.80% and telecommunications 6.30%. These are activities whose implementation and development in the region is much weaker than at the national level.
The percentage of innovative companies by autonomous communities in companies with 10 or more workers, at national level the percentage in the period 2016-2018 stood at 20.00% and in the Region at 19.80%, was 0.20 points behind the national average, but the data provided by the INE for the years 2017-2019 show us that despite having grown 0.40 points and standing at 20.20% of the national average, the negative differential went from 0.20 to 0.60 points.
These data confirm the need to promote the transformation of the productive structure of the Region towards sectors with higher added value and which are fundamental for economic and employment growth. Therefore, the need for a great regional agreement to face the challenges and transform the current weaknesses in infrastructures and productive sectors into strengths to be able to take advantage of all its growth potential and its strategic location in the Mediterranean Arc. This is the main challenge facing the Region and its achievement will lead to a new future.
