Large enterprises of more than 250 employees reported the highest rate of innovation due to the pandemicOne in seven Irish companies abandoned or suspended an innovation project in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Central Statistics Office .
Large enterprises of more than 250 employees reported the highest rate of innovation due to the pandemic , while enterprises of all sizes reported similar rates of abandoned innovation due to the virus. In addition, the total expenditure on external R&D decreased 5 per cent from €853 million in 2018 to €811 million in 2020, while the expenditure on all other innovation areas decreased 65 per cent from €1.6 billion to €542 million.
Irish-owned enterprises accounted for 27 per cent of innovation expenditure in the Republic, while foreign-owned enterprises accounted for 73 per cent. CSO statistician Devin Zibulsky said enterprises reported higher rates of innovation and innovation spending in 2020 compared with 2018, “which may partially reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic”.