Impact
Our Economy
NIH research is a powerful economic engine, investing more than $31 billion annually in medical research for the American people. In fiscal year 2011, NIH-funded research supported an estimated 432,000 jobs all across the United States.
The economic impact of NIH does not end there. It has been estimated that every $1 of NIH funding generates about $2.21 in local economic growth. Also, discoveries arising from NIH-funded research serve as a foundation for the entire U.S. biomedical industry. Long considered the world’s leader in innovation, that vital sector exports an estimated $90 billion in goods and services annually and employs 1 million U.S. citizens with wages totaling an estimated $84 billion.
Consider the economic payoff of just one NIH-supported research initiative: the successful effort to read all the letters in the human DNA instruction book. The U.S. government’s $4 billion investment in the Human Genome Project spurred an estimated $796 billion in economic growth from 2000-2010—a 141-fold return on investment, after adjusting for inflation.
Learn More
NIH Research’s Impact on the Economy (PDF - 76KB)
NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health®(PDF - 4.4MB)
The National Institutes of Health—A Review of Its Reforms, Priorities, and Progress (PDF - 160 KB), June 21, 2012
The National Institutes of Health—A Review of Its Reforms, Priorities, and Progress: Watch the video
NIH FY2013 Budget Request (PDF - 107KB)
Video of NIH Director Francis Collins and others testifying on NIH FY2013 Budget Request. March 28, 2012
Leadership in Decline , Information Technology & Innovation Foundation and United for Medical Research, 2012
Not Coming to America
(PDF - 1.6MB), The Partnership for a New American Economy, 2012
NIH’s Role in Sustaining the US Economy , United for Medical Research, 2012
An Economic Engine , United for Medical Research, 2011
Economic Impact of the Human Genome Project , Battelle Technology Partnership Practice, 2011
In Your Own Backyard , Families USA, 2008
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