Funding trends in EU quantum research
How EU funding for quantum research and innovation has moved year by year: by application pillar, hardware platform, supply-chain segment, programme, coordinator country or kind of organisation. Hover over the chart to see each year, or select a series in the legend to bring it forward.
Showing projects with at least one participant from Spain; who takes part counts only organisations from Spain.
- €1.11bnEU contribution (maximum grant agreed), EUR, projects starting 2015 to 2027
- 2026peak start year (€273m)
- +362%2021–2026 against 2015–2020
- Enabling technologies and supply chaingrew fastest: ×13.2 between the two periods
Basis of these figures: Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe (CORDIS, 224 projects) and 24 projects of other EU programmes (Funding & Tenders Portal); retrieved 2026-10-16, 2026-10-21.
Definitions: EU contribution to quantum projects by start year; Peak start year; Change between the early and the late period; Series that grew fastest between the two periods
- Not placed in a pillar
- Quantum-safe security (post-quantum cryptography)
- Enabling technologies and supply chain
- Quantum sensing and metrology
- Quantum communication
- Quantum computing and simulation
Definition: EU contribution to quantum projects by start year
Method: a project counts in the year it starts, with its whole EU contribution (maximum grant agreed in the grant agreement, in EUR; commitments, not payments), not spread over its duration. The last two years are hatched: they include projects already signed that start later, and more will be added. Pillars follow one method across the portal: the confirmed classification of a project where there is one, else the taxonomy rules on its title, else the snapshot keyword suggestion when a keyword matched; a project that matches none of them is "Not placed in a pillar" and is counted apart, not under enabling technologies. A project in several pillars is split evenly between them; post-quantum cryptography is shown apart. Hardware platforms and supply-chain segments are keyword matches on project titles, as on the technology map, and a project naming several is split evenly between them. Countries are the coordinator’s (Greece and the United Kingdom under GR and GB, whatever code the source uses). Who takes part counts participations (one organisation in one project) by activity type. Sources: CORDIS, Publications Office of the European Union, for Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe; and, for 24 quantum projects of other EU programmes (such as the Digital Europe Programme, the European Defence Fund and the Connecting Europe Facility), the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, European Commission. These are projects whose title or topic names quantum technology, or whose objective mentions it at least four times; national, private and non-EU funding is not included.
See also the technology map, with its supply-chain and parts views.
All values as a table
| Start year | Quantum computing and simulation | Quantum communication | Quantum sensing and metrology | Enabling technologies and supply chain | Quantum-safe security (post-quantum cryptography) | Not placed in a pillar | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | €7.8m | €0 | €158k | €0 | €0 | €3.9m | €11.9m |
| 2016 | €2.7m | €7.3m | €918k | €0 | €0 | €11.7m | €22.6m |
| 2017 | €1.9m | €0 | €2.7m | €0 | €0 | €6.9m | €11.5m |
| 2018 | €25.9m | €23.4m | €13.2m | €6.0m | €5.5m | €7.2m | €81.1m |
| 2019 | €8.7m | €15.0m | €9.2m | €0 | €0 | €6.6m | €39.5m |
| 2020 | €22.1m | €161k | €7.0m | €0 | €0 | €0 | €29.2m |
| 2021 | €10.2m | €2.1m | €30.4m | €86k | €0 | €0 | €42.8m |
| 2022 | €17.8m | €37.8m | €49.0m | €4.4m | €4.4m | €12.4m | €126m |
| 2023 | €78.7m | €46.9m | €66.9m | €6.7m | €5.1m | €6.4m | €211m |
| 2024 | €15.5m | €34.7m | €26.8m | €0 | €0 | €20.9m | €97.9m |
| 2025 | €24.7m | €8.0m | €84.9m | €0 | €32.9m | €4.5m | €155m |
| 2026 | €59.7m | €86.9m | €29.8m | €67.6m | €9.1m | €19.9m | €273m |
| 2027 | €4.3m | €0 | €194k | €0 | €0 | €0 | €4.5m |
Definition: EU contribution to quantum projects by start year
Download these figures (every breakdown, Spain): JSON or CSV. Licence CC BY 4.0; source data CORDIS and the Funding & Tenders Portal, European Commission.
Cite this page: Quantum Europe portal, "Funding trends in EU quantum research", https://quantumeurope.diezao.org/quantum-europe/observatory/trends?by=pillar&measure=eur&country=ES, accessed 3 November 2026.