Spotlight
Research and development expenditure by the UK government: 2023
What's in the bulletin?
- The UK government's net expenditure on research and development (R&D) rose to £17.4 billion in 2023 from £16.1 billion in 2022, an increase of 8.2%.
- UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), excluding Research England, contributed the most to net expenditure on R&D, at £6.3 billion in 2023 (36.2% of total net expenditure on R&D).
- Total civil net R&D expenditure, comprising UKRI, higher education funding bodies and government departments, but excluding EU budget contributions of £375 million, rose by 7% (£943 million) to £14.4 billion in 2023. Ministry of Defence expenditure on R&D rose by 29% (£594 million) to £2.6 billion.
Gross domestic expenditure on research and development, UK: 2022
What's in the bulletin?
- Expenditure on research and development (R&D) performed in the UK was £70.7 billion in 2022 (in current prices), an increase of £4.4 billion since 2021 and £12.4 billion since 2018, which is the first period available since the redevelopment of R&D statistics began.
- The largest component of R&D expenditure was the business sector, at £49.9 billion (71% of the UK total); followed by the higher education sector, at £16.3 billion (23% of the UK total).
- The government sector, including UK Research and Innovation, performed £3.6 billion of R&D (5% of the UK total); the private non-profit sector performed the least, at £0.9 billion (1% of the UK total).
Datasets related to Research and development expenditure
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UK gross domestic expenditure on research and development (designated as official statistics)
Annual estimates of research and development in the UK performed and funded by business enterprise, higher education, government, UK Research and Innovation, and private non-profit organisations.
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UK gross domestic expenditure on research and development (designated as accredited official statistics)
Annual estimates of research and development in the UK performed and funded by business enterprise, higher education, government, UK Research and Innovation, and private non-profit organisations.
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Business enterprise research and development, UK (designated as accredited official statistics)
UK estimates of annual research and development (R&D) spending by UK businesses.
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Research and development expenditure by the UK government
Research and development and related expenditure by UK government departments and devolved administrations
Publications related to Research and development expenditure
Statistical bulletins
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Research and development expenditure by the UK government: 2023
Research and development and related expenditure by UK government departments and devolved administrations.
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Gross domestic expenditure on research and development, UK: 2022
Estimates of research and development performed and funded by businesses, higher education, government, UK Research and Innovation, and non-profit organisations.
Articles
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Update on transformation of research and development statistics
Update on the changes to the Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) and UK Government Expenditure on Research and Development (GovERD) statistics.
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Options for Transformation of Business Enterprise Research and Development Statistics
Improvements in the annual Business Enterprise Research and Development release to give better coverage of small businesses undertaking Research and Development.
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Comparison of ONS business enterprise research and development statistics with HMRC research and development tax credit statistics
Guidance to help users interpret two data sources of expenditure on research and development and understand the differences between them. Outlines the impact of interim methodological improvements to how the ONS BERD statistics are compiled.
Methodology related to Research and development expenditure
Find, compare and visualise statistics about places within the United Kingdom.