Ireland's expenditure on research and development, has increased from €1.8 billion in 2004, to €2.7 billion last year, according to Eurostat.

The European Union statistics office said R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP, stood at 2.02 per cent in the EU28 in 2013, compared with 1.76 per cent in 2004.

The highest R&D intensities were recorded in Finland (3.32 per cent of GDP), followed by Sweden (3.21 per cent) and Denmark (3.05 per cent), with Ireland standing at 1.58 per cent of GDP.

Overall, EU-28 member states spent almost €275 billion on R&D last year.

Ten member states recorded an R&D intensity below 1 per cent of GDP. These included Romania, Croatia, Greece, Malta and Poland.

The business enterprise sector continued to be the main sector in which R&D expenditure was performed accounting for 64 per cent of total R&D conducted in 2013, followed by the higher education sector (23 per cent), the government sector (12 per cent) and the private non-profit sector (1 per cent).

The highest shares of R&D expenditure performed in the business sector were observed in Slovenia and Ireland.

For the state sector, the highest share was by far registered in Romania (49 per cent), followed by Bulgaria (30 per cent), Latvia (29 per cent),

The highest shares of R&D conducted within the higher education sector were recorded in Cyprus (57 per cent), Lithuania (55 per cent), Latvia (43 per cent) and Estonia (42 per cent).

France meanwhile spent more than €47 billion on R&D last year. More than 17,000 companies, ranging from biotechnology and energy to software and gaming, are cashing in on the tax advantages and subsidies for innovation this year in France, with an average break of about €323,500.

Tax breaks for R&D, €5.6 billion this year alone, combined with world-class scientists are making France a honey pot for technology companies.

Additional reporting: Bloomberg