Spending on nuclear weapons is soaring around the world. This trend has been particularly visible over the past five years.
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Two reports just published on Monday, June 17, by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) show that nuclear weapons spending is on the rise. The nine nuclear-armed states (the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, China, Israel, India, Pakistan, North Korea and France) spent – together – 91 billion dollars (84 billion euros) in 2023. Money used to modernize existing nuclear weapons, and to deploy new ones.
According to the Stockholm Peace Research Institute, the total number of existing nuclear warheads worldwide exceeds 12,000, with more than 9,000 immediately available. Some 2,000 warheads are maintained on operational alert. Almost all of these missiles belong to Russia and the United States, which possess 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons.
Since 2018, spending has increased by more than 30%. Over one year (2022-2023), the nine states that hold nuclear weapons have increased their overall spending by 10 billion euros. In terms of global investment in nuclear weapons, that’s $2,700 spent per second.
The United States comes out on top, spending more than all other nuclear powers combined. China is in second place, Russia in third, followed by the United Kingdom and France, which is not among the biggest spenders.
An eloquent comparison underlined by the two institutes authors of these quantitative studies: the funds in question represent more than what the World Food Program considers necessary to put an end to hunger in the world. But the nuclear force maintains what we call deterrence, the mutual and permanent threat of a response from a State in the face of a possible offensive by an enemy country.