R&D Budget and Policy Program

Guide to R&D Funding Data - Historical Data

Historical data for federal R&D come from many sources. Many of the charts below rely on data collected by the National Science Foundation's Division of Science Resources Statistics. Data from NSF sources can be found by following the above link. Others rely on OMB data from historical tables in the President's budget. The data in this section are for federally funded R&D only. Historical trends for R&D at universities (all funding sources) and in total U.S. R&D (private and public funds) can be found in their respective sections on this Web site.

The data below are from past AAAS reports on R&D, and provide the best comparison with data on R&D in the FY 2013 budget. For years before 1976, please go to other sources of data below. The first chart and accompanying table below are the most comprehensive reference for R&D by agency over the last 36 years, and the accompanying charts illustrate selected trends from the tables. The following charts provide additional looks at historical R&D funding across an array of metrics. Feel free to explore, and if you have any questions, contact us.

March 2012 update: We will be updating many of these tables with the most recent data in the coming weeks.

- Chart. R&D by Agency, 1976-2013 in Constant Dollars | Data Table (updated 3/2012)
- Chart. Trends in Federal R&D as % of GDP, FY 1976-2013 | Data Table (updated 3/2012)
- Chart. Trends in Federal R&D, 1976-2013 | Data Table (updated 3/2012)
- Chart. Selected Trends in Nondefense R&D, 1976-2013 (updated 4/2012)
- Chart. Trends in Total Research by Agency, 1976-2013 | Data Table (updated 3/2012)
- Chart. Trends in Basic Research, 1976-2013 | Data Table (updated 3/2012)
- Chart. Trends in Defense R&D, 1976-2013 | Data Table (updated 3/2012)
- Chart. Trends in DOD S&T, 1990-2013 | Data Table (updated 3/2012)
- Chart. Trends in DOD R&D by Agency, 1991-2013 | Data Table (updated 4/2012)
- Chart. Trends in DOE R&D, 1987-2013 (updated 4/2012)
- Chart. NIH Budget by Institute, 1998-2013 | Data Table (updated 3/2012)
- Chart. NIH Budget by Funding Mechanism, 1998-2013 | Data Table (updated 3/2012)
- Chart. NSF Budget by Directorate, 1998-2013 | Data Table (updated 4/2012)
- Chart. Trends in Federal R&D, FY 1998-2009 (DOD, NIH, NSF, DOE, NASA, USDA) (revised 3/08)
- Chart. Trends in Federal R&D, FY 1998-2009 (DOC, DOI, DOT, EPA) (revised 3/08)
- Chart. Trends in the NASA Budget, 2000-2009 (revised 3/08)
- Chart. Trends in USDA R&D, 1990-2009 (preliminary 2/08)
- Chart. Trends in Commerce R&D, 1990-2009 (revised 2/08)

- by Percentage of Total Federal Budget (OMB data)

R&D is a significant but declining part of the federal budget. Nearly all federal R&D is funded through, the discretionary portion of the budget, and although R&D has remained relatively constant as a share of all discretionary spending, R&D has declined as a proportion of the total budget as the discretionary share of the budget has declined as a result of growing entitlements spending.

- Chart. R&D as Percent of Discretionary Spending: FY 1962-2013 (updated 3/2012)
- Chart. R&D as Percent of the Federal Budget: FY 1962-2013 (updated 3/2012)

- by Function (OMB data)

The relative priority of different areas of R&D has varied over the years, reflecting changing national priorities. Spending on defense R&D has exceeded all other R&D spending for most of the past four decades, but the first chart below shows that the relative size of the two sectors has varied considerably over the years. The second chart shows how priorities in nondefense R&D have shifted. Space was the dominant mission in the 1960s; energy R&D has fluctuated in importance; health R&D, meanwhile, has shown practically uninterrupted growth and now represents the largest single share of the nondefense R&D portfolio.

- Chart. Defense and Nondefense R&D, 1953-2013 | Data Table (Updated 2/12)
- Chart. Nondefense R&D by Function, 1953-2013 | Data Table (Updated 2/12)

- by Character of Work (AAAS and NSF data

The chart shows research support by agency over the past 30 years. Federal support for research has grown steadily, and NIH has expanded its share of federal support. As a result, federal support for research at colleges and universities has expanded dramatically. The same trends hold true for basic research only.

- Chart. Federal Research by Agency, 1970-2007 (2/08)
- Chart. Federal Research by Performer, 1970-2007 (2/08)
- Chart. Trends in Research by Agency, 1976-2009 (revised 3/08) - Data Table
- Chart. Trends in Basic Research by Agency, 1975-2009 (revised 3/08) - Data Table
- Chart. Federal Basic Research by Performer, 1970-2007 (2/08) - Data Table

- by Performer (NSF data)

The first chart shows trends in federal R&D by performer; industry has traditionally been the largest performer of federal R&D, but its performance has declined in recent years while other performers, especially colleges and universities, have won increasing shares of federal R&D. The second chart shows that agencies vary greatly in their performer mix; DOD and NASA rely heavily on industrial performers, while NIH and NSF rely heavily on colleges and universities; FFRDCs are important performers for DOE and NASA.

- Chart. Federal R&D Funding by Performer, 1955-2007 (2/08) - Data Table
- Chart. Federal R&D Funding by Performer at Selected Agencies, FY 2007 (2/08)

- by Science and Engineering Discipline (NSF data)

Complete coverage of R&D by discipline can be found in the R&D by Science and Engineering Discipline section of this Guide. The chart below shows that while federal support for many disciplines has remained relatively constant over the past three decades, federal support for the life sciences has increased dramatically. Nearly all of this growth has been due to increasing support for the biomedical sciences, in contrast to flat or declining funding for agricultural sciences, non-human biological sciences, and other non-medical life sciences.

- Chart. Trends in Federal Research by Discipline, 1970-2007 (2/08) - Data Table

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