The amount was up 11.5 percent on-year, the report added. It was based on 2,500 companies from 46 different countries.

Alphabet Inc., the parent company of US IT giant Google, followed Samsung with 13.39 billion euros. German automaker Volkswagen and US tech giant Microsoft Corp. spent 13.1 billion euros and 12.3 billion euros, respectively, to fill out the top four list.

China's telecommunication equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co. allocated 11.3 billion euros to R&D projects over the period, the report added.

Another notable company in the top 10 list was US chipmaker Intel Corp., Samsung's biggest rival in the chip industry, which took sixth place with 10.9 billion euros.

Apple Inc., Samsung's top smartphone rival, followed in seventh.

The report, however, claimed the South Korean tech giant fell behind rivals in terms of its R&D intensity rate, which refers to the ratio of expenditure on R&D to revenue.

Samsung's intensity rate came to 7.2 percent over the period, compared to Intel's 20.9 percent and Huawei's 14.7 percent.

LG Electronics Inc., Samsung's smaller South Korean contender, spent 2.6 billion euros last year, coming in 53rd place.

SK hynix Inc., the country's No. 2 chipmaker, shot up a whopping 16 notches to 67th with 1.9 billion euros. Hyundai Motor Co., which spent 1.8 billion euros on R&D projects, edged up four places to the 73rd spot. (Yonhap)