Higher education institutions received almost ?4.6 billion of net funding in 2012, up from ?2.8 billion in 2001 in current prices. Over the same period, the amount given to private industry and public corporations fell from ?2.2 billion to ?1.8 billion.
The Statistical Bulletin, published on 11 July, reports that overall net government research and development funding climbed from ?6.8 billion in 2001 to a peak of ?9.4 billion in 2009, before falling to about ?9 billion in 2012.
Between 2001 and 2012, research and development funding for overseas programmes doubled and spending in governmental departments increased by ?300 million.