Credit: Yuichiro Chino/Getty
China has continued to make big strides in physical-sciences output in the Nature Index, while the United States and Germany lose ground.
In the 2024 Research Leaders table, which shows data for 2023, only a few managed to build on their annual adjusted Share: China, Italy and India. However, the top 10 standings have remained unchanged from the 2023 table.
The Nature Index is a zero-sum system: since the journals it tracks publish a limited number of articles, an increase in output from some countries corresponds to a decrease from others. As India marks a path upwards, close rival Switzerland sees its Share weaken, pointing toward a possible future overtaking.
Leading countries in physical sciences
Countries are ranked by article Share in a 12-month window of data, 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023. Also listed are each institution's article Count across the same period.
| Rank | Country | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 10,504 | 8,682.52 |
| 2 | United States of America | 7,713 | 4,795.09 |
| 3 | Germany | 3,401 | 1,509.10 |
| 4 | United Kingdom | 2,687 | 991.46 |
| 5 | Japan | 2,034 | 970.97 |
| 6 | South Korea | 1,471 | 894.60 |
| 7 | France | 1,927 | 725.99 |
| 8 | Italy | 1,663 | 634.19 |
| 9 | Switzerland | 1,418 | 489.01 |
| 10 | India | 917 | 485.57 |
1. China
Share: 8,622.52
After surpassing the United States in physical sciences Share in 2021, China has continued to strengthen its lead. China’s Share in the area is now almost double that of the United States.
China boasts 7 of the top 10 physical-sciences institutions. The Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Sciences — the highest ranked institution in physical-sciences output globally — contributed around 36% of the country’s output in the subject.
It is also home to the top five fastest growing cities in the subject for the period 2019-23. Hangzhou, located southwest of Shanghai, for example, recorded a 135.2% growth in its physical-sciences output during this five-year period.
China has made significant investments into large-scale physics facilities over the past 10 years, including the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory, near Guangdong, built to explore particle physics, and the China Jinping Underground Laboratory, in the country’s southwestern Sichuan Province, which will be used in the hunt for dark matter.
2. United States
Share: 4,795.09
Having been the strongest country in physical-sciences output each year from 2015 to 2020, the United States has seen a change in fortune, now in second place and quickly losing pace as China races ahead.
There are promising signs, however. Five out of the country’s top 10 physical-sciences universities reported increases in adjusted Share between 2022 and 2023. The leading university in the subject globally, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Boston, increased its output by 4.8% to achieve a Share of 232.85 in 2023. The California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, in 24th place globally and 5th in the United States with a Share of 117.50, recorded a 23.2% increase from 2022 to 2023.
The United States’ corporate institutions are also very strong in the subject. The IBM Corporation, headquartered in New York, and Alphabet, in California, were the global leaders in the subject in 2023 with shares of 28.8 and 18.53, respectively.
3. Germany
Share: 1,509.10
Germany has also recorded a decline in its physical-sciences Share, dropping 13.6% between 2022 and 2023. This coincides with the country’s strongest research institute, the Max Planck Society, falling 21.7% in adjusted Share in the same period.
Germany, which has held the third-place position in physical sciences since 2015, will need to work hard to retain its position in the future. Its role as a member state of the European laboratory CERN, located on the Swiss–French border, is key to its physical-sciences output, but the country has been reducing funding for certain major projects.
4. United Kingdom
Share: 991.46
The United Kingdom has bounced between 4th and 5th place in physical sciences since 2015, swapping places with its closest competitor, Japan. It has maintained 4th place for 2022 and 2023, but recorded a 6% drop in adjusted Share from 2022 to 2023.
In 2023, the UK’s leading physical-sciences institutions — the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford — continued their downward trend in the global rankings: Cambridge fell from 16th place in 2021 to 17th in 2022 and 21st in 2023, while Oxford slipped from 23 in 2021 to 30 in 2022 to 37 in 2023.
The UK’s weakening status in physical sciences might be a lingering consequence of Brexit, which halted European Union (EU) funding to the UK and saw the country withdraw from international research projects such as the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), an international organisation that promotes the peaceful use of nuclear power, and the EU’s Galileo programme, a global satellite-navigation programme. As of April 2025, the UK has rejoined some EU-funded programmes, including Horizon Europe, but it remains outside others, such as Euratom and the Galileo programme.
5. Japan
Share: 970.97
In 5th place for the subject in 2023, Japan’s physical-sciences output accounts for around one-third of the country’s research activity in the Nature Index. Its strongest institution in the subject, the University of Tokyo, ranked 15th globally with a Share of 175.43.
Chemistry and the physical sciences together contribute more than three-quarters of Japan’s overall Share in the Nature Index. It is particularly strong in condensed-matter physics — one of Japan’s leading fields of research for the 2015–21 time period.
While there are worrying signs that Japan’s support for science is wavering — government funding for universities fell from ¥1.24 trillion (US$8.7 billion) in 2004 to ¥1.08 trillion in 2022 — the country is securing wins in adjacent fields. In 2024, Japan ranked 5th in the world for clean energy-related outputs, which demands physical-sciences expertise.
6. South Korea
Share: 894.60
Since moving from 7th place to 6th in 2020 for physical sciences, South Korea has maintained the position. Though it recorded a 2.6% drop in adjusted Share from 2022 to 2023, that drop is one of the lowest among the 7 countries in the top 10 that recorded negative growth for the period.
Physical sciences accounted for almost 55% of the South Korea’s total research output in 2023. Its strongest institutions in the subject are the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, in Daejeon, and Seoul National University, with Shares of 108.19 and 99.41 in 2023.
An increased focus on international ties in physical sciences could put South Korean researchers in good stead in the coming years. In the 2024 financial year, South Korea more than tripled its budget for global research and development collaboration, boosting it from 500 billion won (US$350.5 million) in 2023 to 1.8 trillion won. The United States is its strongest international partner in the Nature Index, but its ties with China are growing rapidly.
7. France
Share: 725.99
France has maintained its 7th place position in the physical-sciences leaderboard for four years, after holding 6th place from 2015 to 2019. Its strongest institution in the subject, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), in Paris, was ranked 5th globally in 2023, with a Share of 266.41.
The CNRS is also ranked 2nd in Europe for its physical-sciences output, just below the Max Planck Society, which recorded a Share of 284.11.
The country’s domestic ties are a key area of strength in research. Among the most prolific academic partnerships in the Nature Index across all subjects, a collaboration between the CNRS and Paris-based Sorbonne University is ranked 7th, with a collaboration score of 253.02 for 2024. France is the only country, other than the United States and China, to have institutions in the top 20 collaborations in the Nature Index for 2024.
8. Italy
Share: 634.19
Italy is one of the few countries in the top 10 for physical sciences that recorded an increase in its adjusted Share in 2022-23. Though modest, at 0.3%, it equals India’s increase in adjusted Share in the field. Italy has held 8th position in physical sciences in the Nature Index since 2019.
Italy’s physical-sciences performance in the database is bolstered by the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) in Rome, the country’s leading organisation in the field, and the 4th strongest in Europe.
9. Switzerland
Share: 489.01
Switzerland has held 9th position in physical sciences since 2019. But its position is under threat — in 2024, it was just 3.44 Share points ahead of India, which is in 10th place.
Switzerland’s strength in the physical sciences comes from its top institutions, which include the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, in 6th place in 2024, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), in 10th place and CERN in Geneva, 14th place.
All three organisations recorded decreases in their physical-sciences adjusted Share from 2022 to 2023. EPFL had the largest drop, at 15.6%.
10. India
Share: 485.57
After moving between 12th and 13th place in physical sciences between 2015 and 2018, India climbed to 11th place in 2019 before falling back to 12th place in 2020. Since 2021, it has retained 10th place, and is nipping at the heels of Switzerland, in 9th place.
India’s growth in the subject has been spurred, in part, by its growing international research collaborations. As political tensions limit US-China research collaborations, American institutions are increasingly turning to India for partnerships and international students.
For the country to continue its upward trajectory, strong and consistent funding is needed. India invests less than 1% of its gross domestic product into research and development — much less than China (2.4%) or the United States (3.4%) — Nature Index reported in 2023.
