EU government budget allocations for R&D rise by 60%+ over decade

The EU government budget allocations for research and development (R&D) increased by more than 60% over a 10-year period, reaching 0.69% of the bloc's GDP in 2025.

EU governments allocated an estimated €130.2 billion ($150.5 billion) to R&D budgets last year, according to data published by Eurostat on Friday.

This figure marked a 2.4% increase from 2024 and a 60.5% surge compared with 2015.

Government budget allocations for research and development at the EU level stood at €288.9 per inhabitant in 2025.

This represented a 57.7% increase compared with the €183.2 per inhabitant recorded in 2015.

Luxembourg recorded the highest allocations per person among EU countries with €917.2.

Denmark and Germany followed Luxembourg with €627.1 and €553.5, respectively.

Romania registered the lowest allocations with €18.8 per person, while Hungary and Malta followed with €57.4 and €73.7.

Romania was the only EU country that registered a decrease in its budget allocations per inhabitant over the decade, falling by 9.6%.

All other EU countries registered increases between 2015 and 2025.

Bulgaria recorded the highest growth rate at 495.5%, while Sweden saw a 14.7% increase.

General university funds received 37.3% of the budget allocations, which represented the largest share by socioeconomic objective.

Other sources dedicated to the general advancement of knowledge accounted for 18.4%.

Industrial production and technology received 9.5% of the allocations, while health and defense got 6.7% and 5.8%.