Spending on research and development, UK
Gross domestic expenditure on research and development performed in the UK each year since 2022, in all and by business, higher education, government and private non-profit organisations, in current prices, with its share of GDP, from the ONS.
Total
£79.4bn
2024 · 2.71% of GDP; £55,615 million of it by business
Verified against source, 9 November 2026, 15:20 UTC- Total
- Government
- Higher education
- Business enterprise
- Private non-profit
Source: Office for National Statistics. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Data table
3 rows
| Category | Total | Government | Higher education | Business enterprise | Private non-profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | £71.8bn | £3.6bn | £16.3bn | £50.8bn | £1.0bn |
| 2023 | £75.8bn | £4.3bn | £17.1bn | £53.2bn | £1.1bn |
| 2024 | £79.4bn | £4.7bn | £17.9bn | £55.6bn | £1.2bn |
Source and licence
- Publisher
- Office for National Statistics
- Check it yourself
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/researchanddevelopmentexpenditure/datasets/ukgrossdomesticexpenditureonresearchanddevelopment2021designatedasnationalstatistics
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0 – Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Retrieved
- 9 November 2026, 14:59 UTC
- Raw files fetched
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/researchanddevelopmentexpenditure/datasets/ukgrossdomesticexpenditureonresearchanddevelopment2021designatedasnationalstatistics/dataSHA-256 0dded1deda1774ae81efefe613f274974ef452167d5c5ac2a5e693b0577263f0 · 1,887 bytes
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/researchanddevelopmentexpenditure/datasets/ukgrossdomesticexpenditureonresearchanddevelopment2021designatedasnationalstatistics/2024/dataSHA-256 3a51c6dce939a194103c9d53770c3aaf0efa31a314e6db5743dd16f89bdb31f3 · 403 bytes
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/researchanddevelopmentexpenditure/datasets/ukgrossdomesticexpenditureonresearchanddevelopment2021designatedasnationalstatistics/2024/gerd2024.xlsxSHA-256 1dc097418475ae0fcd3e51fcae27cadae7974e19383cd6c42507fb769905c27d · 63,551 bytes
Verification
Verified against source, 9 November 2026, 15:20 UTC Run at 9 November 2026, 15:20 UTC; 15 of 15 figures matched the live source.
| Result | Check | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pass | Provenance recorded | Office for National Statistics; Open Government Licence v3.0; retrieved 2026-11-09T14:59:21Z; 3 raw file(s) |
| Pass | Raw files match recorded SHA-256 | 3 of 3 files intact |
| Pass | Re-parsing raw files reproduces figures | 15 of 15 figures and the headline reproduced; the meta's accreditation and share_of_gdp and constant_prices match |
| Pass | Figures are finite numbers | 15 figures, 0 invalid |
| Pass | Live source matches every figure | 15 of 15 figures match exactly after downloading 3 source file(s) again (3 byte-identical); the headline matches; the meta's accreditation and share_of_gdp and constant_prices match |
| Pass | ONS edition is current | the 2024 edition counts at 2024-12-31, 678 days before retrieval (limit 1000) |
| Pass | Worksheets 1 and 5 give Table 2a's figures | 7 of 7 figures in Worksheet 1's 2024 total row and Worksheet 5's totals match Table 2a |
| Pass | Table 2a's sectors add up to its total | 3 of 3 cases of Table 2a's years give four sectors that add up to the total within the 2 that rounding each to £1 million allows within 2 (1 exactly) |
| Pass | Table 2a's government parts make up government | 3 of 3 cases of Table 2a's years give government excluding UKRI and UKRI adding up to government, within the 1 their rounding allows within 1 (2 exactly) |
| Pass | Table 2b's sectors add up to its total | 3 of 3 cases of Table 2b's years give four sectors that add up to the total within the 2 that rounding each to £1 million allows within 2 (1 exactly) |
| Pass | Table 2b's government parts make up government | 3 of 3 cases of Table 2b's years give government excluding UKRI and UKRI adding up to government, within the 1 their rounding allows within 1 (3 exactly) |
| Pass | Source page answers | https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/researchanddevelopmentexpenditure/datasets/ukgrossdomesticexpenditureonresearchanddevelopment2021designatedasnationalstatistics – HTTP 200 |
Notes
- Spending on research and development performed in the UK, by the sector that performs it, in £ million at current prices; the ONS's estimates from 2022 use its improved method and are accredited, so the tables begin then.
- The Office for National Statistics publishes these as accredited official statistics.