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The latest data from
the National Science Foundation show that after stagnating in the early part of
the decade, total U.S. R&D grew in real terms in 2007 for the fifth year in
a row to reach a new high of $368 billion. U.S. R&D (federal, industry, and
other funding sources) grew 6 percent between 2006 and 2007, buoyed especially
by increases in industry support of R&D. Federal support of R&D, however,
failed to keep pace with inflation. Because total R&D once again grew faster
than the U.S. economy as a whole, the U.S. R&D / GDP ratio climbed for the
third year in a row in 2007 to 2.66 percent.
- August 28, 2008  
Industry
R&D in the U.S. AAAS does not collect data on R&D funded by industry.
Data on industrial R&D as part of the total U.S. R&D effort can be found in the
next section, below. Detailed surveys of industrial R&D are compiled by the National
Science Foundation's Division of Science Resources Statistics. Please refer
to their publications R&D
in Industry and National
Patterns of R&D Resources. The chart below shows that U.S. industrial
firms' support of R&D has increased over the past decade but has flattened
out over the past few years. Industry's support of R&D is heavily concentrated
in development, with far smaller investments in applied research and even smaller
investments in basic research. Over the past decade, industry support of development
has expanded the fastest, while basic research has barely kept pace with inflation.
The second chart shows that the largest R&D-performing industries are motor
vehicles, pharmaceuticals, software, and IT/electronics. Much of the recent growth
in industrial R&D has been in service industries; nonmanufacturing R&D
now accounts for 30 percent of all industry R&D. -
Chart. Trends in U.S. Industry R&D, 1991-2007 (9/08)
- Chart.
Industry-Funded R&D by Sector, 2006 (8/08) Total U.S. R&D (Industry
and Federal, 1953 - ) Detailed surveys of the total U.S. R&D effort
(federal, state, industry, nonprofits, and others) are compiled by the National
Science Foundation's Division of Science Resources Statistics. Please refer
to their publications Science and Engineering Indicators and National
Patterns of R&D Resources. The first table shows that total
U.S. R&D in 2007 is estimated at $368 billion, a $20 billion or 6 percent
increase over 2006. Two-thirds of this total was funded by private industry.
-Table. Total U.S. R&D, 2005-2007 (8/08)
As shown in the chart below, total U.S. R&D has expanded dramatically in
the past four decades. In recent years, total U.S. R&D increased in the 1990s
because of substantial increases in R&D funding from industry; this decade, U.S.
R&D leveled off at first but has increased in real terms for five years in
a row to 2007. The chart shows that industry has consistently expanded its share
of total U.S. R&D; as recently as 1970, industry funded a third of U.S. R&D; now,
it funds two-thirds. -Chart. U.S. R&D Funding by
Source, 1953-2007 (8/08) - Data Table The
chart below shows U.S. R&D by performer. As performers, industry is even more
dominant. Not only does it perform nearly all of the R&D it funds, industry is
also a major performer of R&D with federal funds. 72 percent of U.S. R&D is performed
by industry. -Chart. U.S. R&D Funding by Performer,
1953-2007 (8/08) - Data Table  In
2005, 2006, and 2007, total R&D grew faster than growth in the U.S. economy as
a whole as measured by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). NSF estimates that total
U.S. R&D grew to 2.66 percent of GDP in 2007, down from a recent high of
2.74% in 2001 but up for the third year in a row.
-Chart.
U.S. R&D as Percent of Gross Domestic Product, 1953-2007 (8/08) - Data Table Total
Basic Research (Industry and Federal) Total U.S. basic research has
grown steadily over the past decade, as shown in the chart below, led by steady
increases in federal support for biomedical basic research in the NIH; growth
in federal support accelerated begining in 1998 with the five-year campaign to
double the NIH budget. Industry and other support for basic research, meanwhile,
barely kept pace with inflation. - Chart. U.S. Basic
Research by Funding Source, 1991-2007 (9/08) - Data
Table
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