Sequencing technology
NHGRI — DNA Sequencing Costs (Genome Sequencing Program)
The raw-sequence view of the same NHGRI data: cost per gigabase (1 Gb = 1,000 Mb) of DNA sequence, from ~$5.3M/Gb in 2001 to ~$5.80/Gb in 2022 (NHGRI publishes this as cost per megabase; shown here per Gb so every point stays above the chart's log floor). This decoupled from cost-per-genome as coverage standards and read counts rose, and is the better measure of pure sequencing-output economics. Not forecast.
| Date | USD per Gb |
|---|---|
| 2022-05-31 | 5.8 |
| 2021-02-28 | 9.5 |
| 2020-02-28 | 7.2 |
| 2019-02-28 | 11 |
| 2018-02-28 | 13.7 |
| 2017-02-28 | 11.3 |
| 2016-05-31 | 13.1 |
| 2015-01-31 | 44.1 |
| 2014-01-31 | 44.5 |
| 2013-01-31 | 63 |
| 2012-01-31 | 85.2 |
| 2011-01-31 | 233 |
| 2010-01-31 | 520 |
| 2009-01-31 | 2,586 |
| 2008-01-31 | 102,127 |
| 2007-01-31 | 522,708 |
| 2006-01-31 | 699,203 |
| 2005-01-31 | 974,165 |
| 2004-01-31 | 1,598,910 |
| 2003-03-31 | 2,986,205 |
| 2002-03-31 | 3,898,635 |
| 2001-09-30 | 5,292,393 |
Machine-readable: /api/research-data?metric=cost-per-gigabase · back to all metrics