The Department of Trade and Industry has reported a £2bn rise in UK companies' R&D investment, according to figures published today.

The DTI's 2006 R&D Scoreboard reflects a growing software sector where R&D spending is up 13 per cent.

The study reports that R&D investment is currently £19.2bn compared to £17bn reported in the 2005 Scoreboard.

Around two thirds of this substantial increase is due to companies in sectors such as banking, insurance, media and retail disclosing R&D spend for the first time.

The remaining third reflects a four per cent increase in R&D by the top 800 UK companies compared with the previous year.

The DTI noted that the UK's top R&D companies are keeping pace with their US counterparts in the world's top 1,250 R&D companies, with both showing an eight per cent rise in R&D compared with the previous year.

Science and Innovation Minister Lord Sainsbury said: "This year's Scoreboard confirms again that R&D plays a key part in business success, and demonstrates the ever widening relevance of innovation, and the R&D that goes into its creation, for companies large and small."

The top 10 foreign-owned UK companies account for just over half of the £4.4bn of R&D spent by foreign-owned UK companies.

Eight of these 10 have higher R&D intensities than their overseas parents, emphasising the attractions of the UK as a location for R&D.