South Korea invested nearly 90 trillion won in research and development (R&D) last year, the fifth largest sum among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

That's according to the Ministry of Science and ICT, which said on Wednesday the South Korean government and private sector's total R&D spending in 2019 surpassed 89 trillion won, up three-point-nine percent from the previous year.

R&D spending accounted for four-point-six percent of Korea's gross domestic product (GDP), the second highest in the world after Israel.

The ministry said that companies were the biggest spenders of R&D funds at over 80 percent, followed by public think tanks and universities.

The number of researchers in the country also jumped four-point-seven percent last year to over 538-thousand.

The ministry will publish a related report on these findings next month for public access and also send a copy to the OECD.