The National Survey of R&D-2008, conducted by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research claimed that Singapore reported a significant rise in R&D spending with the gross spending on R&D stood at Singapore Dollar 7.13 billion in 2008.

Total private sector R&D spending stood at USD 5.12 billion in 2008 as compared to 4.23 billion in 2007, registering an increase of 12.4 percent. The figures contributed
2.77 percent in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the city-state.

Rise in spending was highly contributed by electronic segment that reported new heights of growth during the period. R&D spending by the electronics sector was reported at 3.04 billion Singapore dollars which is 39.3 per cent higher than that of 2.18 billion Singapore dollars in 2007.

However, public spending remained almost flat at about USD 2 billion.