In 2015, the world’s most research-intensive nation was Israel, which invested 4.25% of GDP in research and development. Second was South Korea at 4.23%, up dramatically from 2.2% in 2000, but which has held spending flat since 2012. The US followed at 2.8%. China was fourth and quickly rising at 2.07%, with plans to reach 2.5% by 2020, barely ahead of the 28 nations that comprise the EU at 1.97%.