This paper presents a top-level review of global, regional and local (UK) research into dielectrics, as materials, and into related dielectric phenomena, measurements, technologies and applications. The review focuses on three questions: 'Is dielectrics research in growth or decline?', 'How is dielectrics research different geographically?' and 'How has the scope of dielectrics research changed with time?'. The analysis demonstrates that the absolute research activity in dielectrics as measured by the volume of publications in the field continues to grow globally, with the fastest rate of growth observed in China and South-East Asia collectively. It is projected that China may lead the field in terms of total published research output in 6–10 years. In contrast, the UK share of publications in the field is seen to be slowly decreasing. The content and makeup of dielectrics research is seen to be similar across the globe, with the UK blend of research in dielectrics being well correlated with both European and global activity. Within the UK, over a 20-year period, there has been a definite shift away from dielectrics research in the areas of polymer science and atomic and molecular physics and a move to applied and condensed matter physics and optics. Research related to electrical and electronic engineering remains very strong and has retained its share of publications. Not surprisingly, the current hot topic in dielectrics is high permittivity (high κ) dielectrics for electronics applications. Emerging hot topics include dielectrics at the nanoscale, especially the role of interfaces, and the characterization of biological tissues.