The 10 largest public and philanthropic funders of health research in the world: what they fund and how they distribute their funds (2024)

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Public and philanthropic health research funding organizations

Country

Type of funding organization

Year for which funding data were collected

Total health research expenditures (in million 2013 US $)

Specificity of the funding data^a

Research area that the funding data refer to^a

Reporting format of the funding data^a

1

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

USA

Public

2013

26,081.3

I

A

1

2

European Commission (EC)^b

EU

Public

2013

3717.7

II

A

1

2a FP7 - Cooperation programme - Health Theme/Health Directorate ^c

EU

Public

2013

1181.7

II

A

1

2b European Research Council (ERC)

EU

Public

2013

783.4

II

A

1

3

UK Medical Research Council (MRC)

GBR

Public

2013

1321.5

I

A

1

4

Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (Inserm)

FRA

Public

2013

1041.2

I

A

1

5

United States Department of Defense (US DoD)^b

USA

Public

2013

1017.7

I

A

2

5a Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP)

USA

Public

2012

409.0

I

A

1

6

Wellcome Trust^d

GBR

Philanthropic

2013

909.1

I

A

1

7

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

CAN

Public

2012

883.6

I

A

1

8

Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

AUS

Public

2013

777.6

I

A

1

9

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)

USA

Philanthropic

2013

752.0

I

A

1

10

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft / German Research Foundation (DFG)

DEU

Public

2012

630.6

I

A

1

11

National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)

CHN

Public

2012

621.3

II

A

1

12

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

FRA

Public

2013

531.0

III

B

2

13

UK Department of Health / National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)

GBR

Public

2012

491.2

I

A

1

14

Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS)

JPN

Public

2011

472.5

I

A

1

15

Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung / Federal Ministry of Education and Researchof Germany (BMBF)

DEU

Public

2013

472.1

I

A

1

16

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)^e

USA

Philanthropic

2011

462.6

I

A

1

17

Ministero della Salute / Ministry of Health of Italy

ITA

Public

2007

438.6

I

A

2

18

Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)^e

ESP

Public

2011

388.2

I

A

1

19

Ministry of Healthof China

CHN

Public

2011

371.7

I

A

1

20

Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)^e

JPN

Public

2012

338.5

I

C

2

21

Institut Pasteur

FRA

Philanthropic

2013

220.9

I

A

1

22

Singapore National Medical Research Council (NMRC)

SGP

Public

2012

220.7

–

A

1

23

Korean National Research Foundation (NRF)

KOR

Public

2011

191.5

I

A

1

24

Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)^e

ARG

Public

2012

184.4

II

B

1

25

Vetenskapsrådet-Medicine/ Swedish Research Council

SWE

Public

2012

177.9

–

A

1

26

Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)

CHE

Public

2012

172.9

I

A

1

27

ZonMw/ Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development

NLD

Public

2012

172.7

I

A

1

28

Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)^e

BRA

Public

2012

154.2

I

A

1

29

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)

IND

Public

2011

140.3

I

A

3

30

Fund for Scientific Research - Flanders (FWO)

BEL

Public

2010

136.9

I

A

1

31

Korea National Institute of Health(KNIH)

KOR

Public

2013

120.0

III

A

2

32

Forskingsrådet / Research Council of Norway

NOR

Public

2012

113.5

III

A

2

33

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

BRA

Public

2013

110.8

I

A

2

34

Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung/ Austrian Science Fund (FWF)

AUT

Public

2012

99.5

I

C

1

35

South African Medical Research Council (SA MRC)

ZAF

Public

2012

63.2

I

A

3

36

Health Research Council of New Zealand

NZL

Public

2012

61.6

III

A

1

37

Danish Council for Independent Research / Medical Sciences

DNK

Public

2012

58.5

II

A

1

38

Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR)

RUS

Public

2013

53.6

III

B

2

39

Danish Council for Strategic Research (two programmes: Individuals, Disease and Society & Health, Food and Welfare)

DNK

Public

2012

40.3

II

C

1

40

Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT)

MEX

Public

2010

21.9

II

A

2

41

South African Department of Science and Technology (DST)

ZAF

Public

2012

13.5

I

B

1

42

Agencia Nacional de Promocion Cientifica y Technologica (Agenica - ANPCyT)

ARG

Public

–

No data

–

–

–

43

Biomedical Research Council of the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research (BMRC of A*STAR)

SGP

Public

–

No data

–

–

–

44

Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MOST)

CHN

Public

–

No data

–

–

–

45

Indian Department of Biotechnology (DBT)

IND

Public

–

No data

–

–

–

46

Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST)

IND

Public

–

No data

–

–

–

47

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST)

SAU

Public

–

No data

–

–

–

48

Le Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS)

BEL

Public

–

No data

–

–

–

49

Lipi Indonesian Research Council

IDN

Public

–

No data

–

–

–

50

Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation

RUS

Public

–

No data

–

–

–

51

National Research Foundation South Africa (NRF SA)

ZAF

Public

–

No data

–

–

–

52

Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz)

BRA

Philanthropic

–

No data

–

–

–

53

Rockefeller foundation

USA

Philanthropic

–

No data

–

–

–

54

Tubitak / Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey

TUR

Public

–

No data

–

–

–

55

Turkish Academy of Sciences (TUBA)

TUR

Public

–

No data

–

–

–

Total for the 10 largest funders of health research

37,132.2

Total for funders 11 to 41

7116.2

Total for all 41 funding organizations for which data were available

44,248.3