Research and development (R&D) spending in the higher education sector reached $18.1 billion in 2022/2023, up $1.4 billion from the previous year, with notable increases seen in both fields of research. The natural sciences and engineering field saw the largest gain as spending increased by $1.1 billion to $13.6 billion. Meanwhile, social sciences, humanities and the arts rose by $376 million to $4.5 billion.