China overtakes US as world’s top R&D spender in 2024; India ranks 7th

Key facts

• Global R&D expenditure reached an estimated $2.87 trillion in 2024, up 3% year-on-year, according to World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) data from the Global Innovation Index Database released in December 2024.
• China led with $785.9 billion R&D spending in 2024, marking a 20-fold rise since 2000 and a 23 percentage point gain in global share.
• The United States (US) ranked second with $781.8 billion R&D spending in 2024, doubling since 2000 but losing 9.7 percentage points in global share.
• Japan placed third with $186.0 billion R&D spending in 2024, recording a 7.2 percentage point decline in global share.
• Germany was fourth at $132.2 billion, Republic of Korea fifth at $126.4 billion, and United Kingdom sixth at $86.5 billion in 2024 R&D spending.
• India ranked seventh globally, spending $75.7 billion on R&D in 2024, tripling since 2000 and equalling roughly one-tenth of China’s expenditure.
• France, Türkiye, and Brazil occupied eighth, ninth, and tenth positions with $65.8 billion, $43.2 billion, and $38.4 billion R&D spending respectively in 2024.
• Asia accounted for about 45% of total global R&D spending in 2024, with China, Japan, and Republic of Korea among the top 10 spenders.
• Emerging economies Turkey, Egypt, India, Thailand, Poland, and Saudi Arabia increased their global R&D presence during 2024.
• Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Russia, Brazil, and the United Kingdom recorded declines in their shares of global R&D spending.