World’s nine nuclear-armed states hike spending on nukes by 19% to a record $119 billion

GENEVA: The world’s nine nuclear-armed states increased spending on nuclear weapons by 19% to a record $119 billion in 2025, according to a report by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

The figure was the highest recorded since ICAN began tracking annual nuclear weapons expenditure in 2020.

The report covered the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel.

The United States remained the largest spender, raising its nuclear weapons expenditure by 22% to $69.2 billion.

US spending exceeded the combined expenditure of the other eight nuclear-armed countries, according to the campaign group.

ICAN said the increase reflected broader growth in US military spending and continued work to rebuild and modernise the country’s nuclear arsenal.

China was the second-largest spender, increasing its expenditure by 7% to $13.5 billion.

Britain moved ahead of Russia to become the third-largest spender after raising expenditure by 17% to $12.6 billion.

Russia increased its spending by 6% to $9.5 billion.

ICAN, which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017, campaigns for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons.