Quantifying industrial strategies across 20 OECD countries

This paper provides a comparative analysis of industrial policy expenditures across 20 OECD countries over 2019-2023 based on the Quantifying Industrial Strategies (QuIS) database. On average, industrial policy support has increased, with total grants and tax expenditures rising from 1.34% to 1.55% of GDP between 2019 and 2023. This growth was driven mainly by increased public support for fixed capital investment, energy cost relief, and the energy transition. Sectoral support remains central, particularly in energy, manufacturing, and transport. Grant spending (notably through EU-funded programmes) increased more strongly than tax expenditures, while financial instruments remained stable at 0.92% of GDP. Despite perceptions of a proliferation of new industrial policy instruments, most policies predate 2019 and exhibit long lifespans.