Japan vs Korea: R&D personnel and researchers by sector of performance, sex and NUTS

Japan
927,402 Full-time equivalent (FTE)
in 2023
Korea
610,824 Full-time equivalent (FTE)
in 2023
Japan rank
1st
Korea rank
4th

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

  • Japan
  • Korea
200.0k400.0k600.0k800.0k1.0M198020012023

How they compare

Japan currently reports 927,402 Full-time equivalent (FTE) against 610,824 Full-time equivalent (FTE) in Korea, a difference of 316,578 Full-time equivalent (FTE).

That makes Japan's figure about 1.5 times Korea's.

Across all 29 years both countries report, Japan has been ahead every year.

Japan ranks 1st and Korea ranks 4th of 48 countries.

Japan has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Japan Korea Difference Ahead
1990s 915,715 Full-time equivalent (FTE) 138,210 Full-time equivalent (FTE) 777,505 Full-time equivalent (FTE) Japan
2000s 881,261 Full-time equivalent (FTE) 218,219 Full-time equivalent (FTE) 663,042 Full-time equivalent (FTE) Japan
2010s 879,806 Full-time equivalent (FTE) 431,239 Full-time equivalent (FTE) 448,567 Full-time equivalent (FTE) Japan
2020s 930,279 Full-time equivalent (FTE) 583,888 Full-time equivalent (FTE) 346,390 Full-time equivalent (FTE) Japan

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, Japan or Korea?
Japan, at 927,402 Full-time equivalent (FTE) against 610,824 Full-time equivalent (FTE) in Korea as of 2023.
What is the difference in r&d personnel and researchers by sector of performance, sex and nuts between Japan and Korea?
316,578 Full-time equivalent (FTE), with Japan ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Japan and Korea?
29 years are reported by both, from 1995 to 2023.
How do Japan and Korea rank globally for r&d personnel and researchers by sector of performance, sex and nuts?
Japan ranks 1st and Korea ranks 4th 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

Japan vs Korea: 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/japan/korea-rep/

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/japan/korea-rep/">Japan vs Korea: 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