Russia has reduced domestic spending on research and development to 0.97% of GDP. The indicator has for the first time fallen below the level of a number of developing countries, according to data from the HSE University in the statistical yearbook "Indicators of Science-2026".
Lithuania spends 1.05% of GDP, Egypt — 1.03%, Malaysia — 1.01%. Against this backdrop, the gap with the global leaders has become multiple.
Israel allocates 6.35% of GDP to science — more than 6 times as much. South Korea — nearly 5%, the United States, Sweden, and Japan — about 3–3.5%.
In absolute terms, spending amounted to 1.94 trillion rubles, while budget financing for civilian science declined to 0.36% of GDP — the lowest level in 15 years.
The decline in investment is accompanied by a drop in scientific activity. Russia's share in global publications in physics fell from 7.81% to 4.01%, and in mathematics — from 4.86% to 2.01%. The number of articles in the Scopus database fell by 24% compared with 2021.
Not a single Russian university is included in the top-100 of global rankings for research activity. The best result belongs to Moscow State University — 227th place.
For comparison, in 2025 it was planned to allocate 850 billion rubles from the Russian federal budget to finance civilian science. This is 18.5% more than in 2024.