Home > Statistics > Government R&D funding in the state budget > 2021 > R&D funding decreases in the 2021 budget compared to the exceptional year

Published: 25 February 2021

R&D funding decreases in the 2021 budget compared to the exceptional year

According to Statistics Finland, appropriations for research and development in the government budget decrease by EUR 681.7 million from the exceptionally high level of the year before. In the state budget 2021, the total appropriations for research and development activities amount to EUR 2,416.8 million. The share of public research funding in gross domestic product is estimated to be 0.99 per cent.

Figure 1. Government R&D funding by organisation in 2016 to 2021

The largest organisations that received government R&D funding in the budget for 2021 are Business Finland and universities. In the 2021 budget, Business Finland's R&D funding is EUR 740.4 million, including EUR 200 million in outlays from disruption funding carried over from the previous year. In 2021, universities' research appropriations amount to EUR 724.0 million and increase by around EUR 34 million from the 2020 budget as the research share of universities rises. The R&D appropriations of the Academy of Finland, in turn, decrease by around EUR 76 million from 2020, as the research appropriations amount to EUR 449.0 million in the 2021 budget. The R&D funding of central government research institutes and university central hospitals remain in the budget for 2021 on level with the previous year.

Among administrative sectors, research and development activities are financed most in the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. The major provider of funding is the Ministry of Education and Culture, whose R&D funding in the budget for 2021 is EUR 1,298.9 million. The decrease from the appropriations in the budget one year before is around EUR 39 million. The R&D funding of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment falls in the budget for 2021 by nearly EUR 640 million due to the decrease in research and development funding of Business Finland.

Table 1. Government budget allocations for R&D (GBARD) in 2021

	R&D funding € million	Share of R&D funding, %	Change from 2020, € million
R&D funding total	2 416,8	100,0	-681,7
Main administrative sector
Ministry of Education and Culture	1 298,9	53,7	-38,9
Ministry of Employment and the Economy	876,3	36,3	-637,7
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry	69,5	2,9	11,1
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health	67,8	2,8	-15,8
Funding organisations
Universities	724,0	30,0	33,6
Universities of applied sciences	80,7	3,3	7,8
Business Finland	740,4	30,6	-647,1
Academy of Finland	449,0	18,6	-75,8
Government research institutes	211,3	8,7	1,0
Other R&D funding	190,3	7,9	-1,2
University hospitals	21,0	0,9	0,0

Source: Government R&D funding in the state budget, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Heidi Pirkola 029 551 3246, tiede.teknologia@stat.fi

Head of Department in charge: Katri Kaaja

Publication in pdf-format (294.9 kB)

Reviews

• RD funding falls in the budget for 2021 (25.2.2021)

Tables

Tables in databases

Pick the data you need into tables, view the data as graphs, or download the data for your use.

• Database tables and their variables
• Archived tables

Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. Development of central government's total expenditure and funding of RD activities in 2015 to 2021 (25.2.2021)
• Appendix table 2. Central government RD funding and total expenditure by administrative sector in 2020 and 2021 (25.2.2021)
• Appendix table 3. Central government RD funding by administrative sector in 2020 and 2021 (25.2.2021)
• Appendix table 4. Government research institutes budget-funded RD activities in 2020 and 2021 (25.2.2021)
• Appendix table 5. Government research institutes budget-funded RD activities and total RD funding in 2021 (25.2.2021)
• Appendix table 6. Central government RD funding by administrative sector in 2015 to 2021 (25.2.2021)
• Appendix table 7. Central government RD funding by organisation in 2015 to 2021 (25.2.2021)
• Appendix table 8. Central government RD funding by socioeconomic objective in 2015 to 2021 (25.2.2021)

---

Updated 25.2.2021