Federal R&D Obligations Increase 3% in FY 2017: Research Obligations Decrease Slightly While Those for Development Increase 7%

Federal obligations for research and development increased to an estimated $118.3 billion in FY 2017, up 2.8% from $115.0 billion in FY 2016. Obligations for R&D plant increased by 23.6% to $3.0 billion during the same period. Total obligation funding for research declined by 0.3% to $66.5 billion. Basic research remained stable at $32.3 billion in FY 2017, while obligations for applied research declined by 0.8% to $34.2 billion. Obligations for experimental development increased by 7.2% to $51.8 billion.