Figure of the day: Russia spends 3.5 times less on high technologies than on prisons!

Despite numerous statements of intent to make a technological breakthrough and catch up with the world economy, made in recent years, Russia still remains a "dwarf" in the market for investment in innovative companies. This conclusion is made by the experts of the Russian Cluster Observatory of the Institute for Statistical Research and Economics of Knowledge of the National Research University Higher School of Economics based on the results of their study.

Thus, in 2021, only $800 million was invested in high-tech companies - 442 times less than in the US, 114 times less than in China ($91.3 billion), and 69 times less than in the UK (54 .9 billion dollars).

In terms of the ruble exchange rate at the end of 2021, investments in Russian hi-tech amounted to 59.6 billion rubles. This is 3.5 times less than the cost of prisons and colonies of the Federal Penitentiary Service (207 billion rubles); 30 times less expenses for the maintenance of officials and state authorities (1.8 trillion rubles); and 54 times less than the amount that was allocated to finance the army and the state defense order (3.2 trillion rubles).

It is known that massive investments in high-tech companies are a key tool for the innovative development of most countries leading the global economy, HSE experts emphasize.

The results of Russia are inferior in this indicator even to the countries of Latin America, Asia and Africa. For example, India ($41.7 billion) outpaced our country by 52 times, Australia ($25.5 billion) by 32 times, and developing Brazil and Saudi Arabia by 16 times!

In addition, there are no unicorn companies in our country (companies that managed to grow to a capitalization of $1 billion in less than 10 years). But even in Senegal there is one such company, in South Africa there are already two of them, in Mexico - 17, in Brazil - 18, in India - 74, in China, which ranks second in this indicator in the world - 275.

And one more thing: Russia is in 18th place in terms of leaders of creative industries, in 35th place in terms of highly cited scientists, in 38th place in terms of transactions with high-tech companies, in 7th place in terms of the number of living Nobel and Fields Prize winners.

“That is, even the money available in the country is still to a small extent invested in high-tech companies,” the study says.