Changed levels of R&D funding in several expenditure areas

The central government budget is divided into 27 expenditure areas, each representing a part of the economy. These expenditure areas contain R&D funds to a varying degree. The expenditure area Education and academic research accounts for most of the R&D funds, at SEK 29.7 billion, or 66 percent of total government budget allocations for R&D (GBARD). It is also the expenditure area that sees the biggest positive change compared to preliminary statistics, where R&D funds and the share of R&D funds rise by SEK 85 million, corresponding to 3 percentage points. This can be explained by the fact that the Swedish National Space Agency and the Swedish Research Council received increased research grants in the supplementary budgets of SEK 78 million and SEK 28 million respectively.

The expenditure areas that show the biggest negative changes in R&D funds compared to the preliminary statistics are Defence and contingency measures, International cooperation, and Regional development. Estimated R&D appropriations for Defence and contingency measures and Regional development are approximately SEK 600 million lower in the final statistics, while R&D appropriations for International cooperation now amount to SEK 624 million compared to SEK 1.2 billion in the preliminary statistics. The decrease in the R&D appropriations can be explained by the fact that a smaller share of these appropriations was allocated to R&D based on data from the survey Research and development in Sweden. Some appropriations that had previously been partly allocated to R&D were not reported to contain any R&D in 2023.

Almost half of the R&D funds went to general university funds in 2023

Statistics on GBARD also provide an insight into the government’s R&D priorities by classifying R&D funds by socioeconomic objectives according to the Nomenclature for the Analysis and Comparison of Scientific Programmes and Budgets (NABS 2007).

In 2023, SEK 19.4 billion, 43 percent, of the government budget allocations for R&D was directed to the general advancement of knowledge financed by public block grants, or general university funds (GUF), to higher education institutions. The level is lower compared to the preliminary statistics, where R&D funds amounted to 21.5 billion. This is because R&D funds paid to regions for the performance or funding of clinical research are now reported under the socioeconomic objective Health. In the statistical Government budget allocations for R&D 2024, regarding preliminary statistics for 2024, the reasoning behind this move is explained. Actual R&D funds to higher education institutions are SEK 49 million lower compared to the preliminary statistics.

Other socioeconomic objectives that change between the preliminary and final statistics in the distribution of R&D funds are Energy and Industrial production and technology. R&D funds aimed at improving the production, storage transportation, distribution and rational use of all forms of energy go from constituting 2 percent of total R&D funds to 6 percent, while R&D funds aimed at the improvement of industrial production and technology as well as industrial products and their manufacturing processes decreases by 2 percentage points, from 4 to 2 percent. The redistribution is mainly due to changed reporting patterns from the Swedish Energy Agency in the survey Research and development in the government sector for the reference year 2023.

Transnationally coordinated research

The statistics also measure the part of GBARD that is aimed at supporting transnationally coordinated research. The indicator is comprised of contributions to three categories: transnational public R&D performers (e.g. CERN, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF)), Europe-wide transnational public R&D programmes (projects within Horisont 2020 and Horisont Europa), and bilateral or multilateral public R&D programmes established between Sweden and at least one other EU member state or with EFTA and candidate countries.

As a percentage of total GBARD, national public funding of transnationally coordinated R&D has varied between approximately 4 and 7 percent. Since 2012, the proportion has increased by 2.25 percentage points, from 4.39 to a peak of 7 percent in 2023. The largest increase occurred between 2022 and 2023 and is primarily due to increased contributions from the Swedish Research Council to international research infrastructures within bi- or multilateral public R&D programs.

Facts

Preliminary statistics on government budget allocations for R&D for the reference year 2023 were published on 30 March 2023 and were based on the content of the provisional appropriations in the central government budget. The final statistics are based on final budget appropriations, taking into account all supplementary budgets.

The statistics are based on data on funding levels and R&D coefficients derived from the surveys Research and development in the government sector and the higher education sector respectively. The R&D coefficients indicate the R&D share in each budget item. For preliminary statistics relating to the reference year 2023, the coefficients were based on data from 2021, while the final statistics are based on R&D coefficients relating to 2023. In the 2023 survey, many government agencies have reported lower levels of extramural R&D compared to 2021, which has led to many budget items now having lower or no R&D coefficients. For more information about the design of the survey, see Statistikens framställning under Dokumentation on the Government budget allocations for R&D.

Data on transnationally coordinated research is collected via a survey aimed at governmental research funding bodies.

The survey follows guidelines set up by the OECD and published in the Frascati Manual, Guidelines for Collecting and Reporting Data on Research and Experimental Development, Frascati Manual (OECD, 2015). These statistics are also subject to the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2020/1197 of 30 July 2020. The data is submitted to Eurostat, who produce compilations for the EU countries.