France vs Germany: R&D personnel and researchers by sector of performance, sex and NUTS

France
520,816 Full-time equivalent (FTE)
in 2024
Germany
839,700 Full-time equivalent (FTE)
in 2024
France rank
5th
Germany rank
2nd

R&D personnel and researchers by sector of performance, sex and NUTS over time

  • France
  • Germany
200.0k400.0k600.0k800.0k198120022024

How they compare

Germany currently reports 839,700 Full-time equivalent (FTE) against 520,816 Full-time equivalent (FTE) in France, a difference of 318,884 Full-time equivalent (FTE).

That makes Germany's figure about 1.6 times France's.

Across all 40 years both countries report, Germany has been ahead every year.

France ranks 5th and Germany ranks 2nd of 48 countries.

Germany has averaged higher in every one of the 5 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade France Germany Difference Ahead
1980s 272,250 Full-time equivalent (FTE) 395,505 Full-time equivalent (FTE) 123,255 Full-time equivalent (FTE) Germany
1990s 309,617 Full-time equivalent (FTE) 469,405 Full-time equivalent (FTE) 159,789 Full-time equivalent (FTE) Germany
2000s 355,874 Full-time equivalent (FTE) 491,675 Full-time equivalent (FTE) 135,801 Full-time equivalent (FTE) Germany
2010s 426,347 Full-time equivalent (FTE) 633,700 Full-time equivalent (FTE) 207,353 Full-time equivalent (FTE) Germany
2020s 501,164 Full-time equivalent (FTE) 787,457 Full-time equivalent (FTE) 286,293 Full-time equivalent (FTE) Germany

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher r&d personnel and researchers by sector of performance, sex and nuts, France or Germany?
Germany, at 839,700 Full-time equivalent (FTE) against 520,816 Full-time equivalent (FTE) in France as of 2024.
What is the difference in r&d personnel and researchers by sector of performance, sex and nuts between France and Germany?
318,884 Full-time equivalent (FTE), with Germany ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for France and Germany?
40 years are reported by both, from 1981 to 2024.
How do France and Germany rank globally for r&d personnel and researchers by sector of performance, sex and nuts?
France ranks 5th and Germany ranks 2nd of 48 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Eurostat, published as R&D personnel and researchers by sector of performance, sex and NUTS 2 region. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

France vs Germany: R&D personnel and researchers by sector of performance, sex and NUTS. Statizoid, drawing on Eurostat. Retrieved 17 September 2026, from https://science-tech.statizoid.com/compare/r-and-d-personnel-and-researchers-by-sector-of-performance-sex-and-nuts-2-region/france/germany/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Eurostat); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://science-tech.statizoid.com/compare/r-and-d-personnel-and-researchers-by-sector-of-performance-sex-and-nuts-2-region/france/germany/">France vs Germany: R&D personnel and researchers by sector of performance, sex and NUTS</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
R&D personnel and researchers by sector of performance, sex and NUTS 2 region
Unit
Full-time equivalent (FTE)
Source
Eurostat
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Eurostat)
Coverage
460 places, 8,873 data points, 1980–2024
Last refreshed