Global spending on nuclear weapons rose to a record high of 119 billion dollars last year, according to a report by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a nonproliferation advocacy group.
The report said the world’s nine nuclear-armed states increased their combined spending by 16.8 billion dollars in 2025 compared with the previous year, reflecting continued modernization and expansion of nuclear arsenals despite global disarmament efforts.
The United States remained the largest spender, allocating an estimated 69.2 billion dollars, an increase of 12.6 billion dollars, and more than all other nuclear-armed states combined, according to ICAN. China ranked second with 13.5 billion dollars, followed by the United Kingdom with 12.6 billion dollars, Russia with 9.5 billion dollars, and France with 7.7 billion dollars.
India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea accounted for smaller but rising expenditures, ranging from 656 million dollars in the case of North Korea to 2.8 billion dollars for India, the report said.
ICAN said that nuclear-armed states collectively spent 471 billion dollars over the past five years, with all nine countries continuing long-term investment plans aimed at maintaining or upgrading their arsenals for decades.
The group criticized the rising expenditure, arguing that increased spending on nuclear weapons comes amid declining global investment in climate action, conflict prevention, and multilateral diplomacy. It said the trend reflects a growing commitment by nuclear states to sustain and modernize weapons systems capable of large-scale destruction rather than pursuing disarmament.
The report was released shortly after the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute warned that nuclear-armed states are increasingly sidelining disarmament commitments in favor of upgrading their arsenals.
The nine nuclear-armed countries are estimated to possess more than 12,000 nuclear warheads in total, with the majority held by the United States and Russia.
In 2017, the United Nations adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first legally binding global agreement banning nuclear arms development, testing, and possession. While 99 countries have signed or ratified the treaty, none of the nuclear-armed states are parties to it.
Earlier arms control efforts between the United States and Russia, including the New START treaty, have weakened in recent years, with the agreement expiring in February without a successor framework.