Nuclear Powers Accelerate Arms Race as Spending Hits Record $119 B

The nine recognized nuclear-weapon states – the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea – now possess roughly 12,100 warheads. Global nuclear‑weapons spending reached an all‑time high of $119 billion in 2025, a 19 % rise over the previous year, with the United States accounting for more than half of that outlay and pursuing a $1.7 trillion, decades‑long buildup.

The last major arms‑control treaty between the two largest arsenals, New START, expired in February, leaving 86 % of the world’s nuclear stockpiles unregulated. From early 2022 to late 2024, Russian officials issued 135 public nuclear threats, 27 of them from President Vladimir Putin, while former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have also made similar threats. In response, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been to catastrophe.