At more than $456 billion, the value of research and development performed in the United States grew 4.8 percent from 2012 to 2013 according to new data from the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). Over that same one-year period, U.S. gross domestic product grew at just 3.7 percent.
Over the five-year period from 2008-2013, R&D increased at a rate of 2.3 percent annually, while gross domestic product increased at a rate of 2.6 percent annually. Over the previous five-year period from 2003-2008, R&D outpaced GDP growth, increasing at a rate of 6.8 percent annually compared to 5.0 percent annually. According to NCSES, although in recent years data indicate that total R&D is growing faster than GDP, the longstanding trend of this type of growth has yet to return.
