Historical Trends in Federal R&D
The below charts and tables present a range of federal R&D data series, including research budgets by agency, character and discipline. Most data come from annual AAAS R&D budget reports. Additionally, some charts below rely on data collected by the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, and from the historical tables provided by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), via the President’s budget request. Constant-dollar conversions (adjusting for inflation) use OMB’s chained price index, found in historical table 10.1 from the most recent budget request. If you have any questions, or are looking for data you don’t see below, contact us.
General Overview | By Agency | By Character | By Discipline | National Totals
General Overview
| Series | Chart | Data | Last Update |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defense, Nondefense, and Total R&D, 1976-2016 | JPG | Excel | July 2015 |
| Federal R&D as a Percent of GDP, 1976-2016 | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
| By Function: Defense and Nondefense R&D, 1953-2016 | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
| By Function: Nondefense Only, 1953-2016 | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
| R&D as a Percent of Discretionary Spending, 1962-2016 | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
| R&D as a Percent of the Total Federal Budget, 1962-2016 | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
| Federal R&D and Facilities Funding by Performer, 1967-2014 | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
| U.S. Global Change Research Program Budget | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
| National Nanotechnology Initiative Budget | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
| Networking and IT R&D Program Budget | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
By Agency
| Series | Chart | Data | Last Update |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total R&D by Agency, 1976-2016 | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
| Trends in Defense R&D, 1976-2016 | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
| Dept. of Defense Science & Technology, 1990-2016 | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
| Dept. of Defense R&D by Military Department, 1991-2016 | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
| National Institutes of Health Budget by Institute, 1998-2016 | JPG | Excel | July 2015 |
| National Institutes of Health Budget by Funding Mechanism, 1998-2016 | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
| Dept. of Energy R&D, 1997-2016 | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
| National Science Foundation Budget, 2000-2016 | JPG | Excel | July 2015 |
| U.S. Department of Agriculture R&D, 2000-2016 | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
| Dept. of Commerce R&D, 2000-2016 | JPG | Excel | July 2015 |
| Dept. of Homeland Security R&D, 2002-2016 | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
By Character
| Series | Chart | Data | Last Update |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Research by Agency, 1976-2016 | JPG | Excel | July 2015 |
| Basic Research by Agency, 1976-2016 | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
| Applied Research by Agency, 1976-2016 | JPG | Excel | July 2015 |
| Development by Agency, 2000-2016 | JPG | Excel | May 2015 |
| Total Research by Performer, 1953-2012 | JPG | Excel | July 2015 |
| Basic Research by Performer, 1953-2012 | JPG | Excel | July 2015 |
| Applied Research by Performer, 1953-2012 | JPG | Excel | July 2015 |
| Development by Performer, 1953-2012 | JPG | Excel | July 2015 |
By Discipline
| Series | Chart | Data | Last Update |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Research Funding by Discipline, 1970-2015 | JPG | Excel | November 2015 |
| See also the R&D by Discipline page on this site. | |||
National Totals
| Series | Chart | Data | Last Update |
|---|---|---|---|
| National R&D By Funder, 1953-2013 | JPG | Excel | November 2015 |
| National R&D By Funder (Share of Total) | JPG | ||
| National R&D By Performer, 1953-2013 | JPG | Excel | November 2015 |
| National R&D By Performer (Share of Total) | JPG | ||
| University S&E R&D Funding by Source, 1990-2013 | JPG | Excel | November 2015 |
| International R&D Intensity, 1995-2014 | JPG | Excel | January 2016 |
