ICAN: In 2023, nuclear powers spent $91.4 billion on their arsenal

In 2023, the nine nuclear powers — China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Great Britain, and the United States — together spent $91.4 billion on modernizing nuclear weapons.

This is evidenced by the report of the International Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

Moreover, more than half of these costs fell on the USA — they spent $51.5 billion on nuclear weapons last year. The second place in terms of spending on its nuclear arsenal was taken by China — $11.8 billion. Russia was the third largest spender — $8.3 billion.

In total, nine countries spent $10.7 billion more on nuclear weapons last year than in 2022. Moreover, the lionʼs share of this amount — 80% — fell on the USA.

The United Kingdomʼs spending on nuclear weapons also grew significantly for the second year in a row — by 17% — and amounted to $8.1 billion.

According to ICAN, nuclear powers have spent a total of $387 billion on their nuclear weapons over the past five years. Moreover, annual expenditures increased by 34%, from $68.2 billion to $91.4 billion, as all nine countries continue to modernize and in some cases expand their arsenals.

These figures confirm the conclusions contained in the report of the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

According to SIPRI, in January 2024, of a total global stockpile of approximately 12,121 warheads, about 9,585 were in military stockpiles for potential use.

An estimated 3,904 of these warheads were deployed on missiles and aircraft, a 60-fold increase over January 2023. About 2,100 deployed warheads on ballistic missiles are on high alert, almost all of them belong to Russia or the United States. China is also believed to have put some warheads on high alert for the first time.

In addition, SIPRI estimates that China continues to build up its nuclear potential. The number of nuclear warheads in the countryʼs arsenal increased from 3,410 in January 2023 to 500 in January 2024, and it is expected that the arsenal will continue to grow. SIPRI says China is building up its nuclear capability faster than any other country.

According to SIPRI, Russia and the United States together possess almost 90% of all nuclear weapons. Their military stockpiles appear to have remained relatively stable in 2023. At the same time, Russia is estimated to have deployed approximately 36 more warheads in operational forces than in January 2023, SIPRI added.

"We havenʼt seen nuclear weapons play such a prominent role in international relations since the Cold War," said SIPRIʼs Weapons of Mass Destruction Program Director Wilfred Wang.

• The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for its key role in the development of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which entered into force in 2021. Alisha Sanders-Zackre, co-author of the ICAN report, said that "instead of investing in Armageddon, the nine nuclear powers should follow the example of nearly half the worldʼs countries and join this treaty, making a real contribution to global security."