U.S. Total R&D Spending Dropped in 2009

Apr 10, 2012

The National Science Foundations’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) has released a report showing that total U.S. R&D spending in 2009 was 0.6% lower than in 2008. Such a drop has only occurred twice since the early 1950s. Reductions in business investments were cited as the primary cause; all other sectors continued to rise. For example, in the government sector, a one-time increase of $18.9 billion was included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  International comparisons show the ratio of U.S. R&D spending to gross domestic product at 2.88% in 2009, placing the U.S. behind Israel (4.28%), Finland (3.96%), Sweden (3.62%), South Korea (3.36%), Japan (3.33%), Denmark (3.02%), Switzerland (3.00%), and Taiwan (2.93%).

For more information: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf12310/