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%. Of this, the largest share was accounted for by UK Research & Innovation (UKRI), excluding Research England, at £6.3 billion, a rise of +5.7% compared to 2022.
The other main categories of expenditure were via (civil) government departments with £4.7 billion (up by +19.8% over 2022), higher education funding at £3.4 billion (-5.0% down on the previous year) and the Ministry of Defence with £2.6 billion (+29.0%).
These are all expressed in current prices and inflation has a significant impact on these trends – taking inflation into account (using constant 2023 prices), the increase in total UK government R&D spending falls to just +1.9%.
You can download the ONS Statistical Bulletin and dataset from their website at https://www.ons.gov.uk/releasecalendar (9 April) or request it from MTA.