https://www.icanw.org/2025_nuclear_weapons_spending_reaches_119_billion
https://www.icanw.org/premeditated_2025_global_nuclear_weapons_spending
In 2025, the nine nuclear-armed states spent just under $119 billion, or $3,768 per second, on their nuclear arsenals. The report, Premeditated: Nuclear Weapons Spending in 2025, shows that the combined spending of the nuclear armed states – China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, UK and US increased 19% from the previous year ($16.8 billion).
The United States had the biggest increase from 2024- 2025, at $12.4 billion, and spent more than all of the other nuclear-armed states combined, at $69.2 billion. China remained second, at $13.5 billion, and the United Kingdom came in third, spending $12.6 billion.
Using the evidence available from some governments, the report also looked at longer term spending growth projections as the nuclear-armed states carry out modernisation and, in many cases, expansion of their arsenals. Figures from France, UK and US show billions more dollars will be spent in the years ahead as the three countries are committed to developing and maintaining weapons systems into the next century. Other countries which are more opaque about future spending are also introducing new weapons systems with long lifespans.
Over the past few years, the UN, along with the whole humanitarian and development sector, has had its funding cut by countries that are rearming themselves, both conventionally and in nuclear terms. The money spent on nuclear weapons in 2025 by the US alone could have covered the entire UN annual budget 19 times over.
ICAN’s Director of Programmes co-author of the report, Susi Snyder, said: “At a time when the cost of living is skyrocketing and food and fuel are unaffordable for so many, it is unthinkable that these nine countries are spending billions on a false promise of security. Nuclear weapons cannot be used without causing catastrophe, and the false logic of nuclear deterrence requires us to trust our enemies with our very survival.”
Alicia Sanders-Zakre, co-author of the report and ICAN’s Head of Policy added: “Our research is annual, but nuclear weapons spending is not. The nine nuclear-armed states are planning to maintain and modernize their nuclear forces for decades to come, diverting untold billions of dollars away from real human security needs.”
Across the board, nuclear-armed states are making plans to retain their arsenals for decades to come. Several nuclear-armed states have published nuclear weapons spending projections of tens of billions or even past $1 trillion for the next decade or several decades. And all nuclear-armed states have weapons systems that will remain operational at least until 2050, if not until the next century.
In 2025, at least 25 companies working on nuclear weapons development and maintenance held significant contracts for their work. These companies earned at least $38 billion in the year for nuclear weapons related activities and hold at least $394 billion in outstanding contracts. In 2025, new contracts worth around $2.5 billion were awarded to these companies. The companies identified in this report paid lobbyists in France and the United States more than $138 million to represent their interests last year. They also had 226 meetings with high-level UK officials including 4 with the Prime Ministers’ office in 2025.
While nine nuclear-armed countries spent $119 billion in 2025 on weapons of mass destruction, 99 countries have now signed, ratified or acceded to the Treaty of the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), banning all nuclear weapons activities and committing to work towards their destruction.
