Nature Index 2025: China widens lead over US in world-class research
Nature Index calendar-year data for 2024 show China with a Share of 32,122 versus the United States' 22,083, with China s adjusted Share rising sharply while the US and other Western systems lose ground amid funding and policy upheaval.
- China reached a Nature Index Share of 32,122 in 2024 compared with the United States' 22,083.
- China's adjusted Share rose about 17.4% year on year while the United States' adjusted Share fell about 10.1%.
- The United States recorded its largest falls in chemistry (-11.6%) and the physical sciences (-10.6%), with smaller declines in health (-2.7%) and biological sciences (-5.4%).
- China increased its adjusted Share in the biological sciences by about 20.4%.
- Canada, France and the United Kingdom each lost at least 9% of adjusted Share.
- The White House 2026 budget proposal would cut roughly US$18 billion from NIH, about 40% of its budget, and would sharply reduce EPA and NSF funding.
- Policy disruptions, visa restrictions and frozen federal funds at institutions such as Harvard risk prompting a brain drain and shifting collaborations away from the United States.
- South Korea and Singapore both rose in the Research Leaders rankings and recorded double-digit gains in key fields such as biological, environmental and physical sciences.