On Sunday, November 10, World Science Day was celebrated. This holiday, established by UNESCO in 2001, is designed to remind the world of the importance of science for the development of society and the use of its achievements for the benefit of mankind.
Many countries are increasing their research budgets every year because they understand the need for progress. The United States and China have staged a race for world leadership in this area as well. Finam analyst has studied the spending of leading countries on science.
The USA is a global scientific superpower
Over the past five years, the United States has received more scientific Nobel Prizes than the rest of the world combined. As Nature notes, the country has been leading in this field since the middle of the 20th century. In 2020, two American pharmaceutical companies were among the leaders in developing vaccines that helped contain the pandemic. Two years later, a California startup company released the revolutionary artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT, and the national laboratory overcame a fundamental barrier in the field of nuclear fusion.
In 2024, the United States plans to spend $1 trillion on research and development, more than any other country. American laboratories pay well for the work of their employees, which attracts the best scientists from all over the world to the United States. Thus, 43% of doctors of science in the United States are from other countries.
Money is the driving force behind research, and the United States has long been a leader in science and technology, largely because it spends more than all other countries. Combining public and private funding, the United States spent $923 billion in 2022, or about 30% of global spending on research and development.
China may bypass the United States by 2030
China remains the main competitor of the United States in the race for leadership in the scientific field. According to the data cited by the Minister of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, Yin Hejun, in 2023 China spent 3.3 trillion RMB (about $458.5 billion) on research and development, which is 8.1% more than in 2022.
"Scientific and technological innovations not only increase the competitiveness of the country's traditional industries, but also lay a solid foundation and give impetus to the development of new high-quality productive forces," the official commented on the figures.
American experts believe that with such growth rates, China will equal the United States in the field of science financing by 2030. According to a report by the US National Science Foundation, in 2019 China overtook the United States in the number of awarded doctoral degrees in science and technology, and in 2021 became the leader in the number of international patent applications. According to the Web of Science database, in 2020, China overtook the United States in terms of the share of cited articles in the world ranking, which indicates a high level of work by Chinese scientists.
And what about Russia?
Russia is gradually increasing funding for science. Thus, according to the Institute for Statistical Research and Economics of Knowledge at the Higher School of Economics, in 2023 Russia spent 1.6 trillion rubles on research and development, which is 7.4% more than in 2023.
According to Interfax, with reference to the Minister of Science and Education of Russia Valery Falkov, in 2025, funding for Russian science may be increased by 13% or by 76 billion 777 million rubles compared to 2024.
According to Kommersant, with reference to the Ministry of Education and Science, the Russian authorities expect to increase private funding for science. If in 2024 the planned share of extra-budgetary funds should reach 36%, then by 2030 - 43%, and by 2035 - up to 50%.
