Global Nuclear Powers Race to Outgun Each Other
United States leads the surge as military powers pour billions into expanding and modernizing their nuclear capabilities.
Global spending on nuclear weapons climbed sharply in 2024, rising 11 percent from the previous year and crossing the $100 billion mark for the first time, according to a new analysis by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
The report calculates that nations were collectively spending the equivalent of $190,000 every minute on their nuclear arsenals.
The United States accounted for more than half of all global expenditure, committing an estimated $56.8 billion to maintaining and upgrading its nuclear stockpile. China ranked second at $12.5 billion, while the United Kingdom followed with $10.4 billion.
Some of the steepest year-on-year increases came from the UK, where spending jumped 26 percent, Pakistan with an 18 percent rise, and France at 13 percent.
ICAN’s data shows that between 2020 and 2024, the nine nuclear-armed states spent a combined $415.9 billion on their weapons programs. Over a slightly longer span, from 2019 to 2023, overall nuclear spending increased by more than a third, underscoring a growing global commitment to nuclear armament despite mounting calls for disarmament.
