Inflation-Adjusted Federal Budget Authority for R&D Totals $151 Billion in FY 2025 Proposed Budget
NSF 25-311
|December 5, 2024
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Federal funding for R&D, by budget function: FYs 1961–2025
| Fiscal year | Total for all budget functions | National defense | Health | General science and basic research | Space flight | Energy | All other functions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 58 | 45 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| 1962 | 65 | 46 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 2 |
| 1963 | 78 | 48 | 4 | 2 | 18 | 3 | 3 |
| 1964 | 88 | 48 | 4 | 2 | 26 | 4 | 3 |
| 1965 | 89 | 45 | 5 | 2 | 30 | 4 | 3 |
| 1966 | 91 | 45 | 5 | 2 | 30 | 3 | 4 |
| 1967 | 95 | 49 | 5 | 2 | 28 | 3 | 7 |
| 1968 | 89 | 46 | 6 | 2 | 24 | 4 | 7 |
| 1969 | 83 | 44 | 6 | 2 | 20 | 3 | 7 |
| 1970 | 78 | 40 | 5 | 2 | 18 | 3 | 8 |
| 1971 | 75 | 39 | 6 | 2 | 15 | 3 | 10 |
| 1972 | 76 | 41 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 3 | 9 |
| 1973 | 74 | 40 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 9 |
| 1974 | 71 | 37 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 3 | 9 |
| 1975 | 71 | 36 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 8 |
| 1976 | 72 | 36 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 8 |
| 1977 | 76 | 38 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| 1978 | 79 | 39 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 9 |
| 1979 | 79 | 39 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 9 |
| 1980 | 77 | 39 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 9 |
| 1981 | 79 | 43 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| 1982 | 80 | 49 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| 1983 | 82 | 53 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| 1984 | 90 | 60 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| 1985 | 98 | 66 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| 1986 | 103 | 71 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 7 |
| 1987 | 108 | 74 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 7 |
| 1988 | 108 | 73 | 13 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 7 |
| 1989 | 109 | 71 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 8 |
| 1990 | 108 | 68 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 8 |
| 1991 | 108 | 64 | 15 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 9 |
| 1992 | 109 | 64 | 16 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 9 |
| 1993 | 109 | 64 | 16 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 9 |
| 1994 | 104 | 58 | 17 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 10 |
| 1995 | 103 | 56 | 17 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 10 |
| 1996 | 101 | 55 | 17 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 9 |
| 1997 | 103 | 57 | 18 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 9 |
| 1998 | 105 | 57 | 19 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 9 |
| 1999 | 109 | 58 | 22 | 7 | 12 | 2 | 9 |
| 2000 | 108 | 59 | 25 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 9 |
| 2001 | 117 | 61 | 28 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| 2002 | 129 | 70 | 31 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| 2003 | 146 | 82 | 34 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 11 |
| 2004 | 155 | 88 | 36 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 11 |
| 2005 | 156 | 91 | 35 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| 2006 | 157 | 93 | 34 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| 2007 | 160 | 95 | 34 | 9 | 10 | 2 | 9 |
| 2008 | 159 | 96 | 33 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 9 |
| 2009 | 175 | 96 | 45 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 9 |
| 2010 | 163 | 96 | 35 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 10 |
| 2011 | 156 | 91 | 34 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 9 |
| 2012 | 152 | 85 | 34 | 10 | 11 | 2 | 9 |
| 2013 | 138 | 74 | 32 | 9 | 11 | 2 | 9 |
| 2014 | 138 | 73 | 32 | 10 | 11 | 2 | 9 |
| 2015 | 139 | 74 | 31 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 9 |
| 2016 | 150 | 81 | 33 | 10 | 13 | 4 | 9 |
| 2017 | 125 | 57 | 34 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 10 |
| 2018 | 138 | 67 | 36 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 10 |
| 2019 | 140 | 69 | 37 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 10 |
| 2020 | 155 | 75 | 42 | 11 | 13 | 4 | 10 |
| 2021 | 145 | 71 | 37 | 11 | 11 | 4 | 10 |
| 2022 | 154 | 72 | 39 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 15 |
| 2023 | 158 | 83 | 39 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 11 |
| 2024 preliminary | 158 | 84 | 38 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 10 |
| 2025 proposed | 151 | 76 | 39 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 11 |
Note(s):
Gross domestic product implicit price deflators (2017 = 1.00000) were used to adjust current dollars for inflation. Data for 1961–77 are obligations; 1978–2025 are budget authority. The federal fiscal year cycle changed in FY 1977, from 1 July–30 June to the current 1 October–30 September cycle; no data were collected for the 3-month period of July–September 1976. FYs 2009–10 obligations include additional funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Beginning in FY 2016, development obligations were more narrowly defined as "experimental development,” most notably excluding Department of Defense Budget Activity 7 (Operational System Development); thus, data from FY 2016 on are not directly comparable with prior years. FYs 2020–22 obligations include supplemental COVID-19 pandemic-related appropriations. FY 2024 data reflect early-March 2024 annualized continuing resolution funding levels. For more on data comparability, see NSF 24-310 Table 24.
Source(s):
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Federal R&D Funding, by Budget Function: FYs 2023–25.
Annual budget authority, primarily in the form of congressional appropriations, allows federal agencies to enter into obligations that will result in outlays. The president’s budget proposal and congressional budget resolutions classify federal budget activities into functional categories that represent major purposes, such as Agriculture, Energy, National defense, and Transportation. These functions include all federal funding for that purpose, regardless of agency. For example, the National defense function includes not only Department of Defense military activities but also national security activities from the Departments of Energy, Justice, and Homeland Security. The federal government designates funds for research and development (R&D) within these functions to help foster knowledge and innovation. Adjusted for inflation, the FY 2025 proposed budget authority for R&D declined $7 billion due to a decrease in R&D funding for National defense while funding for other functions remained consistent.
See the full set of data tables at https://ncses.nsf.gov/data-collections/federal-budget-function/2023-2025#data.
NCSES has reviewed this product for unauthorized disclosure of confidential information and approved its release (NCSES-DRN24-059).
Suggested Citation: Pece CV; National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). 2024. Inflation-Adjusted Federal Budget Authority for R&D Total $151 Billion in FY 2025 Proposed Budget. NSF 25-311. Alexandria, VA: U.S. National Science Foundation. Available at https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf25311.
NSF 25-311
|December 5, 2024
Source Data & Analysis
NSF 25-311
|December 5, 2024