Ambitious Cutting-Edge Research

In 2024, spending on research accounted for 3.1% of Germany’s GPD. The intention is for this to rise to 3.5% by 2030. This puts Germany among a leading group of nations that spend more than 3% of GDP on research and development (R&D), and above the average level of OECD (2.72%) and EU (2.13%) countries. In 2024, spending on R&D in Germany amounted to just under 137.1 billion euros. Of this total,

• 92.5 billion euros was spent by the business sector,
• 24.1 billion was spent by higher education institutions, and
• 20.4 billion euros was spent by non-university, public and publicly funded research institutions.

The strength ofcutting-edge research in Germany is reflected in the number of publications produced by researchers. In the 2025 “Nature Index”, which evalu­ates the publication performance of research and higher education institutions, Germany was ranked highest in Europe. Against its international competitors, Germany is ranked third, behind the front runners China and the US.

The High-Tech Agenda Germany is the Federal Government Federal Government The Federal Government and cabinet is made up of the Federal Chancellor and the Federal Ministers. While the Chancellor holds the power to issue directives, the ministers have departmental powers, meaning that they independently run their respective ministries in the framework of those directives… Read more › ’s innovation offensive. Its aim is to bundle promising approaches in Germany to boost innovation and competitiveness, while at the same time ensuring prosperity and technological sovereignty. The idea is for stakeholders in politics, academia and business to collaborate closely and pursue concerted action.

The High-Tech Agenda Germany is based on three pillars:

• Six priority key technologies that will be specifically further developed: artificial intelligence; quantum technologies; microelectronics; biotechnology; fusion and climate-neutral energy generation; technologies for climate-neutral mobility
• Five strategic research fields that are to be boosted: aerospace; health research; security and defence research; marine, climate and sustainability research, and the humanities and social sciences
• Nine levers that will create the necessary conditions (for example for transfer, finance, specialist personnel and infrastructure)

The High-Tech Agenda Germany combines concrete roadmaps and flagship projects with specific funding and networking instruments to translate research quickly into real-life applications.

This is intended to preserve Germany’s international competitiveness while at the same time actively shaping central future challenges.