Agricultural research and development (R&D) investment in Australia – 2023 24 update

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Key findings

• Total Australian agricultural R&D funding in 2023-24 was $2.98 billion, increasing slightly from 2022-23 ($2.91 billion).
• The private sector has overtaken the public sector as the main funder of agricultural R&D ($1.52 billion and $1.47 billion respectively) in 2023-24.
• The private sector is doing increasingly more agricultural R&D, with R&D expenditure growing at an average annual rate of 6.85%
• Meanwhile, the Australian Government and State Governments are doing less of the agricultural R&D, with expenditure dropping by 2.41% and 1.77% each year on average.

*Note: Where university R&D funding is received from Australian and State and Territory Governments, it is captured in the 'Universities' box. This amount is not included 'or double counted' in the 'Australian Government' or 'State and Territory Government' boxes'.

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What is in this report?

Research and development (R&D) investment is fundamental to the delivery of new technology and knowledge into the Australian agricultural system, and is therefore an important driver of productivity growth, competitiveness and the sustainability of Australian farms.

This report contains updated estimates of funding and expenditure on agricultural R&D to 2023-24 – where ‘funding’ is the dollar amount allocated or invested in R&D, and ‘expenditure’ is the dollar amount spent by those doing the R&D. Compared with previous estimates (to 2022-23) this report contains new data for various sources of R&D funding, and where data for 2023-24 are not yet available, imputed values have been used. As the 2023-24 estimate is constructed using imputed and partial data, it is treated as a ‘forecast’. Other adjustments are made retrospectively, where additional data has become available. In addition, the entire series are readjusted to reflect real 2024 prices.

While total R&D funding and expenditure estimates should in theory balance, differences in data availability, quality and timing mean they are not exactly the same. The flow of funding through the R&D system is also obscured by time taken for funding processes, as well as leveraging arrangements and collaborative partnerships among research funders and providers.

How are these estimates generated?

ABARES has conducted several previous studies into the value of agricultural R&D investment and the returns this has generated. This update builds on these analyses and uses our latest approach for measuring Australian agricultural R&D. Previous research can be downloaded below.