World spending on nuclear weapons hits record high, ICAN reports

The world is witnessing a significant escalation in spending on nuclear weapons, reaching a record $119 billion last year, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

This figure represents a 19% increase from 2024, with the nine nuclear-armed states, the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, Israel, India, Pakistan, and North Korea, allocating substantial funds to maintain and develop their arsenals. The US and Russia together account for approximately 83% of all global nuclear weapons.

ICAN has described the spending as "shockingly high" and questioned how the world might look if these vast sums were directed toward other priorities instead of weapons of mass destruction. Over the past five years, a staggering $471 billion has been spent on nuclear arms.

While the overall number of nuclear warheads is declining, a concerning trend has emerged: the number of deployed weapons ready for use has increased for the first time in generations. This development, highlighted in a recent report by the Swedish peace research institute Sipri, suggests nations are becoming increasingly reliant on nuclear weapons for national power, thereby elevating the risk of miscalculation and escalation.

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It is a shockingly high amount