Saudi Arabia rose R&D spending to SR22.61 billion ($6.02 billion) in 2023, up from 17.4% from the previous year’s level. This increased investment signifies the commitment of the kingdom to realize its Vision 2030 agenda focusing on diversification of the economy away from oil dependence and innovation throughout key sectors. 

According to this, R&D personnel of Saudi Arabia witnessed spectacular growth in 2023 also to 49,337 as at the year end, and it depicts 12.2 percent up surge from the figure for the calendar year of 2022. Researchers have dominated the total workforce at 36,832 researchers, an up rise of 22.1 percent as against the last calendar year. This rising financing as well as workforce underscores the Kingdom’s interest in upgrading research capabilities to spearhead the economic transformation. 

The efforts on R&D are focused in strategic sectors such as energy, technology, and sustainability, all of which fall under the Vision 2030 strategy. The distribution of workers by sector shows that higher education is the biggest employer with 37,540 workers or 76.1 percent of the total R&D workforce. The private sector comes next with 8,810 workers (17.9 percent), and the government sector with 2,987 workers (6.1 percent). 

Saudi Arabian kingdom has also witnessed a sharp shift in R&D funding. Funding from the government sector accounted for the majority of the total R&D spending, which stood at SR12.12 billion (53.6 percent). The private sector contributed SR9.31 billion, and the higher education sector received SR1.17 billion.  

However, when considering the case of R&D expenditure, the private sector topped at SR8.70 billion, followed closely by the government sector at SR8.66 billion, and then higher education at SR5.24 billion. 

In line with these progresses, in August 2023, Saudi Aramco committed to $100 million over ten years dedicated to research and development at KAUST, also known as King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. The new collaboration will accelerate innovation on energy transitions, sustainability, materials science, and digital solutions, consistent with Saudi Arabia’s broader plans for sustainable development and advancing technologies.