Nuclear Powers Spend Record Billions on Weapons While Hunger and Climate Needs Go Unmet

The United States accounted for more than half of global nuclear weapons spending in 2025 as watchdogs warn of a growing arms race, expanding corporate influence, and declining commitment to disarmament.

By Alexis Sterling, Nation of Change

As governments around the world grapple with rising food insecurity, climate-related disasters, and growing economic pressures on households, a new report shows that nuclear-armed nations are directing unprecedented sums toward the maintenance and expansion of their atomic arsenals.

According to research released Tuesday by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the world’s nine nuclear-armed countries spent a combined $119 billion on nuclear weapons in 2025, the highest amount ever recorded. The figure represents an increase of $16.8 billion over the previous year and amounts to approximately $3,768 every second.

The report paints a picture of accelerating nuclear modernization across every nuclear-armed state at a time when advocates argue resources are urgently needed elsewhere. The findings arrive amid mounting concerns over global instability, renewed geopolitical rivalries, and the erosion of international arms-control agreements that once placed limits on the world’s most destructive weapons.

No country spent more than the United States, which accounted for $69.2 billion of the global total. According to ICAN, U.S. spending increased by $12.6 billion from the previous year and exceeded the combined nuclear expenditures of all other nuclear powers.

China ranked as the second-largest spender with an estimated $13.5 billion, followed by the United Kingdom at $12.6 billion, Russia at $9.5 billion, and France at $7.7 billion. India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea also increased spending, with expenditures ranging from approximately $656 million in North Korea to $2.8 billion in India.