Japan and Italy Invest More in Space Programs

While the U.S. decreased its space budget majorly in the past 15 years, other OECD countries have upped their investments into the field. Japan and Italy both doubled their space budgets as a share of GDP to around 0.1 percent each between 2010 and 2025. Japan successfully landed on the moon in 2024, while Italy is active within the European ESA space program.

In Eastern Europe, space budgets made some of the greatest leaps, reaching 0.03-0.04 percent in Poland and Czechia. Nascent space budgets also took off in the Baltic states, Slovakia and Hungary.

The United States saw its space budget decrease from 0.13 percent of GDP in 2010 to just 0.89 percent in 2025 as the Space Shuttle era ended and NASA faced budget cuts because political priorities shifted. This dragged the whole OECD average down despite all other countries investing more in space exploration.

Some major OECD economies, like the United Kingdom, Spain or Germany, don't spent as much on space programs, at 0.25 to 0.55 percent of GDP, and saw these expenses grow moderately in the past 15 years. France meanwhile is a bigger, but more constant spender at a 5 percent increase. In 2025, 0.82 percent of French GDP went towards space programs in the nation which manages a spaceport in French Guyana in South America and has been investing in military space projects.