Bridging the Knowledge Divide: Mapping Global Research Inequality

Advancing Research for a Fairer Future

Article 3 - Mapping Global Research Inequality

Scientific research is more critical than ever for progress, policy, and innovation, but its production is far from equal across the globe. Understanding the stark disparities in research output is key both to harnessing humanity’s potential and to addressing systemic inequities in knowledge creation. This section explores the scale, geographical patterns, and root causes of current research inequalities.

An illustration depicting four diverse researchers, two on each side of a brick bridge. In the background is a faded world map. The researchers are interacting with books, laptops, and a large digital chart displaying graphs and a pie chart, representing research, data analysis, and bridging global knowledge divides.

Global Overview: Where Research Is Produced

Total output is rising rapidly, but overwhelmingly concentrated:
In 2022, the world published approximately 3.3 million science and engineering (S&E) articles, continuing a years-long trend of ~4% annual growth (NSB, 2023; World Economic Forum, 2020). However, a closer look reveals profound disparities:

86% of all articles in 2022 originated from high-income and upper-middle-income economies (NSB, 2023).
The majority of the output comes from just a handful of countries. In 2022, China led with over 1.2 million publications, far outpacing the United States (about 750,000). India, the UK, and Germany follow, but at much lower levels (Scinapse, 2024; Nature Index, 2023).

A bar chart titled "S&E publications for 10 leading regions, countries, or economies: 2022." The chart shows the number of articles published on the y-axis, and regions, countries, or economies on the x-axis. China leads with over 900,000 articles, followed by the United States with over 400,000. India, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, Italy, Russia, South Korea, and Canada follow in descending order of the number of articles published.

Figure PBS-2: S&E publications for 10 leading regions, countries, or economies in 2022. Article counts are based on publications from conference proceedings and peer-reviewed journals in S&E fields from Scopus. Articles are classified by their year of publication and assigned to a region, country, or economy based on the institutional addresses of the authors. Fractional credit is given for articles with authors from different regions, countries, or economies.

Regional Disparities

The Americas and Europe produce most of the world’s research, with the Americas contributing 48.6% and Europe 29.8% of output in specific sectors. Africa and Southeast Asia contribute only a small fraction, despite large populations and growing research needs (University World News, 2025; NSB, 2021).

Low-income countries contributed just 0.42% of total global research output in 2025, while high-income nations accounted for over 83% (University World News, 2025).

China’s rise has shifted the global landscape; its growth is the fastest, outpacing both the U.S. and the rest of Asia, and reflecting decades of national investment in science infrastructure.

Income, Growth, and Inequality

The last two decades have seen rapid growth among upper-middle-income economies (notably China, Russia, Brazil, and Iran, with compound average annual growth rates near or above 8–10%), compared to just 3% for high-income economies (NSB, 2021). However, the starting base for the former group was so low that, even now, the top 15 countries account for over 75% of all global research papers (NSB, 2021).

Yet most of the developing world is not catching up:

Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and most of South Asia have either stagnated or declined in R&D spending as a share of GDP (UNESCO, 2025).

R&D investment as a share of GDP in Europe, North America, and Eastern/Southeastern Asia has continued to rise (from 2.26% to 2.59% in some regions), but has hardly budged or has declined in many developing regions (UNESCO, 2025).

A double bar chart titled "Figure 2: Researchers (in full-time equivalent) per million inhabitants, 2015 and 2022." The chart compares researcher density in 2015 (light orange bars) and 2022 (dark orange bars) across several regions. Australia and New Zealand, and Europe and Northern America have the highest numbers, with both regions showing a slight decrease or increase, respectively, in 2022 compared to 2015. Eastern and South-Eastern Asia shows a significant increase from 1,393 to 1,931. Other regions, including Northern Africa and Western Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Southern Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa, have lower numbers but most show increases. The "World" average shows an increase from 1,137 in 2015 to 1,420 in 2022.

Source UNESCO, 2025

The North-South Divide

A recent study of climate science articles found that researchers from Latin America, Africa, and much of Asia remain significantly underrepresented, both as first authors and in the content of flagship scientific reports (Phys.org, 2025). Systemic barriers—from insufficient funding to language bias and editorial exclusion—mean that “scientific progress is not truly global” (Phys.org, 2025). Even within international collaborations, researchers from the Global South are often supporting rather than lead authors.

A horizontal bar chart comparing factors that limit participation in scientific collaboration between the Global South (blue bars) and Global North (orange bars). The y-axis lists the factors, including "Home country's investment in science," "Scientific career (e.g. standards for publication)," "Language (command of english)," "Quality of education within Global South countries," "Professional network," "Economic incentives," "Time," "Other," "Previous experience in the IPCC," and "Work experience." The x-axis shows the percentage of responses. The top two factors for both groups are "Home country's investment in science" and "Scientific career (e.g. standards for publication)," though the percentages vary. "Language (command of english)" and "Quality of education within Global South countries" are significantly higher for the Global North.

Responses to the survey question: "Which of the following do you consider the top 3 main barriers or limitations for increasing Global South participation in the IPCC workforce?" Credit: Climatic Change (2025). DOI: 10.1007/s10584-025-03857-z

Income, Growth, and Inequality

Yet most of the developing world is not catching up:

Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and most of South Asia have either stagnated or declined in R&D spending as a share of GDP (UNESCO, 2025).

R&D investment as a share of GDP in Europe, North America, and Eastern/Southeastern Asia has continued to rise (from 2.26% to 2.59% in some regions), but has hardly budged or has declined in many developing regions (UNESCO, 2025).

Quality, Impact, and Collaboration

While China now leads in raw publication numbers, papers from the U.S., UK, and EU still receive more citations per paper—reflecting differences in impact and visibility (Nature Index, 2023; NSB, 2021).

Countries and regions with high levels of international collaboration tend to have higher citation rates (Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia, 2023).

Still, collaboration patterns themselves are uneven: most South Asian countries, for instance, depend on international partners for at least 50% of their publications, but are less likely to lead or get primary credit (Lancet, 2023).

Root Causes of Disparity

Economic Inequality: Research capacity fundamentally follows wealth—higher income means more infrastructure, funding, and workforce (University World News, 2025).
Language and Publishing Bias: English-language dominance creates further exclusions.
Limited Access to Funding and Networks: Most international research grants, editorial boards, and institutional partnerships are clustered in North America, Western Europe, and East Asia.
Structural Barriers and Policy Gaps: Low-income institutions may lack access to key journals or resources, and policy support for research may be absent or inconsistent (Phys.org, 2025).
Role in Collaborations: Global South scientists are often in supporting roles, not as principal investigators or lead authors, impacting both visibility and career progression.

The geography of research output in 2025 is marked by extraordinary concentration, persistent gaps, and emerging new centers of excellence. While China and a handful of other middle-income nations have expanded rapidly, most of the world remains on the periphery of the global scientific conversation—often due to barriers well beyond raw talent or scientific need. Understanding and addressing these inequalities is essential if research is to fulfill its promise as a truly global public good.

References

Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia. (2023). Regional and international collaboration: key to quality research in south Asia. Lancet Regional Health – Southeast Asia, 9, 100160. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10305997/
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics [NCSES]. (2023). Publication Output by Country, Region, or Economy and Scientific Field. National Science Foundation. https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsb202333/publication-output-by-region-country-or-economy-and-by-scientific-field
Nature Index. (2023). 2023 Research Leaders: Leading countries/territories. https://www.nature.com/nature-index/research-leaders/2023/country/all/global
Phys.org. (2025, April 30). Study reveals significant underrepresentation of Global South in climate science. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-reveals-significant-underrepresentation-global-south.html
Scinapse. (2024, December 23). Global Research Inflection: Research in 2025. https://insights.pluto.im/global-research-in-2025/
UNESCO Institute for Statistics [UIS]. (2025, March 7). Explore the latest progress on SDG 9.5 Research and Development. https://uis.unesco.org/en/news/Explore-latest-progress-on-SDG9.5-Research-Development-through-key-indicators-February2025
University World News. (2025, May 9). Study exposes inequity in global research on medical errors. https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20250509141827343

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Bridging the Knowledge Divide: Mapping Global Research Inequality