MERI database

The MERI database offers an overview of scientific activities in Belgium from different angles through descriptive statistical data on research and development, on innovation, on scientific publications and participation in European Union research programmes. MERI also publishes key figures, policy analysis and evaluation reports.

Government budget allocations for R&D

Overview of the government budget allocations for R&D (GBARD) in Belgium in the period 1989-2023i. For the years 1989 to 2022, the overview is based on the final budget figures, and for 2023, on the initial budget figures.

Belgian participations in the EU Framework Programme

This section gives an overview of the Belgian participation in the EU Framework Programme Horizon 2020 (H2020). Two types of statistics are available: data on projects/participations and data on proposals/applications. These data are further presented in two different flavors: “Belgium in a European perspective” and “Belgium in detail”.

Research & Development

This overview allows the user to select a group of related R&D indicators. Each link offers the possibility to make additional selections within the chosen domain. Depending on the availability of the data, combinations can be made by:

sector (enterprises, government, higher education and the private non-profit sector)
time period
region and community

Innovation

European statistics and indicators concerning innovation are calculated on the basis of data collected from companies within the framework of a harmonised survey at European level, known as the Community Innovation Survey (CIS), which in turn is based on the Oslo Manual, OECD/European Commission, 2018. The CIS survey collects data every other year, alternating with the R&D survey.
Core statistics cover innovation activities, cooperation, development, expenditures, and turnover.

Bibliometric indicators

Bibliometric indicators refer to indicators of the production of scientific and/or academic publications and of citations. The number of publications (whether in the form of articles, reviews, or conference proceedings) gives an idea of the general activity of researchers, whereas the number of citations gives an idea of the quality of the scientific work produced.

Statistics on bio- en nanotechnology

Belspo collects data on trends in bio-and nanotechnology.
Belgian figures and a series of internationally comparable data are published by the OECD and can be consulted via the links below.

Biotechnology: Belgian biotechnology figures in an international perspective
Nanotechnology: Belgian nanotechnology figures in an international perspective

Careers of doctorate holders

Belspo participated on several occasions in internationally coordinated projects to produce statistics on the careers of doctorate holders.
The first survey was organised in 2006 and investigated educational choices, career paths, job and international mobility of doctorate holders.
In order to update the existing data, it was decided to carry out two new surveys in 2010 and 2013.
Statistics for the three different surveys are available via the links below (.xls or .xlsx files):

2006 ; 2010 ; 2013

Advanced search

This page lets you freely query the entire database and compare any type of data.