US lags India, China and Brazil in R&D growth: Pentagon study

The US lags behind India, China and Brazil in rate of growth in research and development indicators, according to a Pentagon report.

According to the report, the global investment in R&D was up to nearly nearly $1.1 trillion in 2007 in the three major regions where R&D was funded.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, global spending on R&D had nearly doubled, publications had grown by a third, and the number of researchers worldwide continued to rise.

"The rate of growth of these indicators in China, India, and Brazil is much faster than the United States. Funding for R&D in China, for example, has grown by 20 per cent per year since 1999, with a goal to spend 2.5 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on R&D in 2010," it said.

"India, Brazil, and South Korea have similar targets; over the same period, US spending is flat or declining," according to the 132-page report of the Defence Science Board Task Force on Basic Research.

The report dated January was released by the Pentagon this month.