This corresponds to 0.54 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), compared to EUR85.3 million or 0.48 percent of the GDP in 2015. Despite the increase of 15.9 percent observed in R&D expenditure in 2016 relative to 2015, the share of the GDP of Cyprus devoted to R&D activities continues to be low compared to other countries. For example, the share of R&D expenditure to the GDP of the member states of the European Union stands at 2.03 percent on average.