Corporations increase research spending to 32 billion euros

Dusseldorf In order to remain competitive, Germany’s large companies are again spending more on research and development (R&D). According to calculations by the Handelsblatt, the corresponding expenditures in the Dax companies increased by 8.6 percent in the first half of 2022 compared to the same period last year to almost 32 billion euros. In fact, the total sum is likely to be even higher because only 24 of the 40 Dax companies report their research and development expenses for the months examined.

However, there is no research boom among the large listed corporations. Firstly, the increased expenditure is measured against the currently drastically increased inflation rate. Excluding inflation, expenses have hardly increased. Second, R&D efforts have barely increased over the past two years. In the meantime, however, sales had risen by a good 15 and corporate profits by more than a third. In 2022, companies will make record profits. They are also distributing higher dividends than ever before.