Global Nuclear Weapons Spending Hits Record High in 2025, New Arms Race Heats Up

(Central News Agency, Geneva, 8th Combined Foreign News) Experts warned today that global spending on nuclear weapons soared to a record high last year as nuclear-armed nations moved more warheads from storage to delivery systems. Experts warned that "a new nuclear arms race has already begun."

According to combined reports from AFP and Reuters, a report by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) indicated that the world's nine nuclear-armed states spent a combined nearly $119 billion on their nuclear arsenals last year, a sharp 19% increase from 2024.

Studies published today by ICAN and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) both expressed concern over the increasing nuclear risks against a backdrop of heightened geopolitical tensions. The studies show that countries are accelerating the modernization of their nuclear arsenals and deploying more stored nuclear weapons, driving a significant surge in related spending.

Susi Snyder, ICAN Program Coordinator and co-author of the report, said that the continued expansion of nuclear arsenals by countries is deeply troubling amid concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) could increase the risk of nuclear weapons misuse.

"To be honest, I am very scared," she told reporters.

The SIPRI report noted that the total number of global nuclear warheads has been declining for years, estimated at 12,187 at the beginning of this year, of which approximately 9,745 were in available stockpiles.

Karim Haggag, Director of SIPRI, said, "Although the number of nuclear weapons is decreasing, nuclear threats and risks are increasing," citing the disintegration of strategic arms control mechanisms and competition among major nuclear powers as causes for concern.

SIPRI predicts that the trend of declining global nuclear stockpiles could reverse in the coming years. A statement from the institute said this is because "the pace of nuclear warhead dismantlement is slowing, while the deployment of new nuclear weapons is accelerating."

The United States and Russia together hold approximately 83% of the world's nuclear stockpiles, each possessing over 5,000 warheads. China is expanding its nuclear arsenal faster than any other country, estimated to possess around 620 warheads.

Haggag noted, "Intensified geopolitical competition has led China to have a stronger tendency to rely on nuclear weapons."

The ICAN report indicated that all nuclear-armed states, including the UK, France, India, Israel, North Korea, and Pakistan, continue to increase investment in their nuclear arsenals.

Total spending by these nine countries on such weapons of mass destruction last year increased by nearly $17 billion compared to 2024.

ICAN stated that US nuclear weapons spending in 2025 reached $69.2 billion, exceeding the combined total of all other nuclear-armed states, an increase of $12.4 billion or 22% from the previous year.

The report estimated China's nuclear weapons spending last year at $13.5 billion, ranking second, an increase of 7% year-on-year; the UK ranked third with $12.6 billion, up 17%; and Russia ranked fourth with $9.5 billion, up 6%.

According to ICAN statistics, the total spending on nuclear arsenals by these nine countries over the past five years has exceeded $470 billion.

According to the report, US nuclear weapons spending is estimated to approach $1 trillion between 2025 and 2034.

Researchers stated that just one day's worth of global nuclear weapons spending last year would have been enough to provide food security for over 2 million people.

Snyder said that instead of investing resources in aid or healthcare, nuclear-armed states are pouring money into "nuclear arsenals that they themselves know would constitute war crimes if used. This approach is severely disconnected from real-world needs." (Editor: Liu Wenyu) 1150609