--- title: "Top funders of economics research, 2023–2025" description: "From 2023 to 2025, National Natural Science Foundation of China was named as a funder of the most papers in the 123 tracked economics journals (3,365), followed by National Social Science Fund of China (1,052) and European Commission (888). In 2025 alone, National Natural Science Foundation of China funded 1,384 of these papers." url: https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/economics markdown_url: https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/economics.md license: CC BY-NC 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) share_text: "From 2023 to 2025, National Natural Science Foundation of China was named as a funder of the most papers in the 123 tracked economics journals (3,365), followed by National Social Science Fund of China (1,052) and… (as of 2026-10-31)" data_url: https://scholar4ai.com/data/rankings.json updated: 2026-10-31T19:11:11+09:00 window: 2026-10-02 to 2026-10-31 source: OpenAlex (CC0) --- # Top funders of economics research, 2023–2025 Research funders ranked by the papers in the 123 tracked economics journals that name them, in each year from 2023 to 2025. Funders are the organisations OpenAlex links to a paper from its funding information (Crossref metadata and the paper's acknowledgements); a paper counts once for each funder it names. Grant numbers are not shown. By category: [Finance](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/finance.md) · [Accounting](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/accounting.md) · [Economics](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/economics.md) · [Health Economics and Policy](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/health-economics-and-policy.md) · [Management](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/management.md) · [Marketing](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/marketing.md) · [Information Systems](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/information-systems.md) · [Tourism and Hospitality](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/tourism-and-hospitality.md) · [Higher Education and Research](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/higher-education-and-research.md) · [Operations Research](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/operations-research.md) · [Statistics](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/statistics.md) · [AI](https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/ai.md) ## Key findings - From 2023 to 2025, National Natural Science Foundation of China was named as a funder of the most papers in the 123 tracked economics journals (3,365), followed by National Social Science Fund of China (1,052) and European Commission (888). - In 2025 alone, National Natural Science Foundation of China funded 1,384 of these papers. *Funders named on the most papers, 2023–2025* | # | Funder | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2023–2025 | |---:|---|---:|---:|---:|---:| | 1 | [National Natural Science Foundation of China](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/national-natural-science-foundation-of-china.md) | 900 | 1,081 | 1,384 | 3,365 | | 2 | [National Social Science Fund of China](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/national-social-science-fund-of-china.md) | 193 | 296 | 563 | 1,052 | | 3 | [European Commission](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/european-commission.md) | 244 | 291 | 353 | 888 | | 4 | [Japan Society for the Promotion of Science](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/japan-society-for-the-promotion-of-science.md) | 283 | 306 | 261 | 850 | | 5 | [National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/national-office-for-philosophy-and-social-sciences.md) | 298 | 336 | 190 | 824 | | 6 | [Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/fundamental-research-funds-for-the-central-universities.md) | 176 | 168 | 251 | 595 | | 7 | [Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/deutsche-forschungsgemeinschaft.md) | 156 | 215 | 180 | 551 | | 8 | [Agence Nationale de la Recherche](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/agence-nationale-de-la-recherche.md) | 167 | 155 | 181 | 503 | | 9 | [National Science Foundation](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/national-science-foundation.md) | 167 | 166 | 148 | 481 | | 10 | [Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/ministry-of-education-of-the-people-s-republic-of-china.md) | 118 | 135 | 214 | 467 | | 11 | [Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/ministerio-de-ciencia-e-innovacion.md) | 92 | 147 | 121 | 360 | | 12 | [Economic and Social Research Council](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/economic-and-social-research-council.md) | 141 | 108 | 90 | 339 | | 13 | [Humanities and Social Science Fund of Ministry of Education of China](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/humanities-and-social-science-fund-of-ministry-of-education-of-china.md) | 54 | 87 | 168 | 309 | | 14 | [Agencia Estatal de Investigación](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/agencia-estatal-de-investigacion.md) | 75 | 116 | 103 | 294 | | 15 | [Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/ministerio-de-ciencia-innovacion-y-universidades.md) | 64 | 103 | 96 | 263 | | 16 | [Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/fundacao-para-a-ciencia-e-a-tecnologia.md) | 85 | 91 | 86 | 262 | | 17 | [European Research Council](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/european-research-council.md) | 66 | 66 | 94 | 226 | | 18 | [China Postdoctoral Science Foundation](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/china-postdoctoral-science-foundation.md) | 47 | 69 | 108 | 224 | | 19 | [Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/social-sciences-and-humanities-research-council-of-canada.md) | 61 | 77 | 73 | 211 | | 20 | [Horizon 2020 Framework Programme](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/horizon-2020-framework-programme.md) | 71 | 53 | 83 | 207 | | 21 | World Bank Group | 63 | 60 | 83 | 206 | | 22 | [Major Program of National Fund of Philosophy and Social Science of China](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/major-program-of-national-fund-of-philosophy-and-social-science-of-china.md) | 25 | 57 | 118 | 200 | | 23 | [National University's Basic Research Foundation of China](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/national-university-s-basic-research-foundation-of-china.md) | 83 | 62 | 55 | 200 | | 24 | H2020 European Research Council | 70 | 63 | 56 | 189 | | 25 | [Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/ministero-dellistruzione-delluniversita-e-della-ricerca.md) | 54 | 60 | 72 | 186 | | 26 | [National Research Foundation of Korea](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/national-research-foundation-of-korea.md) | 49 | 64 | 72 | 185 | | 27 | [Australian Research Council](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/australian-research-council.md) | 56 | 64 | 63 | 183 | | 28 | [Horizon 2020](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/horizon-2020.md) | 83 | 60 | 40 | 183 | | 29 | [Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/bundesministerium-fur-bildung-und-forschung.md) | 50 | 62 | 68 | 180 | | 30 | [Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/conselho-nacional-de-desenvolvimento-cientifico-e-tecnologico.md) | 47 | 59 | 66 | 172 | | 31 | [Ministry of Education](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/ministry-of-education.md) | 40 | 48 | 83 | 171 | | 32 | Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung | 53 | 60 | 57 | 170 | | 33 | [HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/horizon-europe-framework-programme.md) | 39 | 50 | 78 | 167 | | 34 | [European Regional Development Fund](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/european-regional-development-fund.md) | 37 | 59 | 59 | 155 | | 35 | Norges Forskningsråd | 44 | 48 | 62 | 154 | | 36 | [Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/coordenacao-de-aperfeicoamento-de-pessoal-de-nivel-superior.md) | 35 | 36 | 45 | 116 | | 37 | [National Key Research and Development Program of China](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/national-key-research-and-development-program-of-china.md) | 34 | 35 | 45 | 114 | | 38 | [Humanities and Social Sciences Youth Foundation, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/humanities-and-social-sciences-youth-foundation-ministry-of-education-of-the-peo.md) | 37 | 33 | 41 | 111 | | 39 | [Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/natural-science-foundation-of-shandong-province.md) | 22 | 22 | 67 | 111 | | 40 | [China Scholarship Council](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/china-scholarship-council.md) | 25 | 38 | 46 | 109 | | 41 | Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek | 35 | 36 | 38 | 109 | | 42 | Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo | 23 | 30 | 51 | 104 | | 43 | Ministero dell'Istruzione e del Merito | 20 | 39 | 44 | 103 | | 44 | [National Science and Technology Council](https://scholar4ai.com/funders/national-science-and-technology-council.md) | 27 | 23 | 53 | 103 | | 45 | Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation | 39 | 32 | 27 | 98 | | 46 | Generalitat de Catalunya | 24 | 33 | 41 | 98 | | 47 | Narodowe Centrum Nauki | 38 | 29 | 31 | 98 | | 48 | Grantová Agentura České Republiky | 23 | 39 | 34 | 96 | | 49 | Peking University | 19 | 24 | 50 | 93 | | 50 | National Institute of Food and Agriculture | 30 | 30 | 29 | 89 | ## Cite this page Scholar4AI. (2026). Top funders of economics research, 2023–2025. Journal Research Rankings. Retrieved October 31, 2026, from https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/economics ```bibtex @misc{scholar4ai-rankings-funders-economics, author = {{Scholar4AI}}, title = {Top funders of economics research, 2023–2025}, year = {2026}, howpublished = {\url{https://scholar4ai.com/rankings/funders/economics}}, urldate = {2026-10-31}, note = {Journal Research Rankings; data from OpenAlex (CC0); licensed CC BY-NC 4.0} } ``` License: CC BY-NC 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).