China and India will drive an overall increase in global R&D expenditures this year. At the same time, US science and technology companies are projecting modest reductions in their fiscal year 2010 budgets, according to NSF data and US industry surveys.
Worldwide R&D expenditures more than doubled over the past decade—jumping from $525 billion in 1996 to $1.10 trillion in 2007 (see figure). However, the 2010 Global R&D Funding Forecast by the Battelle Memorial Institute and R&D magazine shows that the trend flattened to $1.11 trillion in 2009; it predicts a jump to $1.16 trillion in 2010.
Highlighted in both the NSF and the Battelle reports is that developing nations, particularly India and China, are snatching shares of total global R&D spending. As the table shows, the US and Europe accounted for a combined 60% of global R&D spending last year, down more than 7% from the 1996 number...
