Argentina: Technicians in R&D (per million people)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2018, Argentina's technicians in R&D (per million people) rose 48.53 on 2017 (from 349.52 to 398.05).

Across the 20 yearly changes before that (1998 to 2017), the average change was +9.48 and a typical year strayed about 12.4 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 3.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 48.53 in 2018 and the biggest yearly fall was 14.23 in 1999. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2009 to 2018 the straight-line trend is upward, about 15.69 a year. A straight line explains 91% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 433.66 for 2021. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2016 to 2018 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 18.1, against 32.65 for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2018, Argentina had the 7th highest value of the 22 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Argentina in the 2018 ranking

• Slovak Republic — 4th of 22: 520.63
• Russian Federation — 5th of 22: 437.84
• Serbia — 6th of 22: 412.03
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 8th of 22: 369.56
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 9th of 22: 315.8
• Malaysia — 10th of 22: 233.44

What this measures

The number of technicians participated in Research & Development (R&D), expressed as per million. Technicians and equivalent staff are people who perform scientific and technical tasks involving the application of concepts and operational methods, normally under the supervision of researchers. R&D covers basic research, applied research, and experimental development.

Limitations: Estimates of the resources allocated to R&D are affected by national characteristics such as the periodicity and coverage of national R&D surveys across institutional sectors and industries; and the use of different sampling and estimation methods. R&D typically involves a few large performers, hence R&D surveys use various techniques to maintain up-to-date registers of known performers, while attempting to identify new or occasional performers.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 22 values

Technicians in R&D (per million people) in nearby economies

• Chile — 303.47 (2017)
• Guatemala — 10.96 (2018)
• Mexico — 140.3 (2016)

More infrastructure data for Argentina

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 6.42 million (2024)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 14.05 (2024)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 156,614 (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 136.48 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 21.06 million (2023)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 64.08 million (2024)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 140.24 (2024)
• Patent applications, nonresidents — 3,146 (2024)
• Patent applications, residents — 445 (2024)
• Industrial design applications, nonresident, by count

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Argentina's technicians in R&D (per million people)?

398.05 in 2018, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1997?

It is up 148.92% from 159.91 in 1997 (4.44% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 398.05 in 2018 and the lowest 156.5 in 1999.

How does Argentina rank?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SP.POP.TECH.RD.P6, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS), UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: http://uis.unesco.org, note: Data as of March 2021, publisher: UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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