Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data underscore a pivotal trend in the global race for innovation leadership. In 2023, the United States invested $823 billion in research and development (R&D) — the largest total globally — but China is rapidly closing the gap, reaching $781 billion and growing nearly twice as fast (8.9 percent annual growth since 2019, compared with 4.7 percent for the United States).
This acceleration highlights a fundamental competitiveness challenge: Sustained and strategic investment in R&D underpins national productivity, innovation capacity, and technological leadership — the drivers of economic security and prosperity in the next economy.
As converging technologies — from AI to advanced manufacturing and biotechnology — reshape global markets and supply chains, the pace and focus of R&D investment will determine which nations lead in defining standards, setting norms, and capturing the value of innovation.
For U.S. economic leaders and policymakers, these trends are a clear call to action: ensuring a robust, well-coordinated national innovation ecosystem that couples world-leading research with agile commercialization and workforce strategies is vital to maintaining the United States’ global standing.
