Kathrine Frich
Defense budgets usually tick upward quietly in the background of global politics.
Taxpayers rarely notice the exact figures while dealing with everyday bills. But a massive surge in spending on the world’s most destructive weapons just completely changed the global ranking.
A massive surge
The nine nations holding nuclear arsenals drastically increased their budgets in 2025. They poured a record $119 billion into their stockpiles over twelve months, according to Reuters cited by News Ukraine.
That marks a nearly 20 percent jump from the previous year. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons noted this is the sharpest rise since they started tracking the numbers in 2020.
The United States drove much of that growth, boosting its investment by 22 percent. Washington spent $69.2 billion on its nuclear programs alone. That figure easily beats the combined spending of every other nuclear-armed country on earth.
Changing the ranks
The biggest surprise in the data came from Europe. The United Kingdom bumped up its nuclear funding by 17 percent to reach $12.6 billion.
That sudden increase pushed Britain past Russia in the global spending charts. Moscow only increased its budget by 6 percent, dedicating $9.5 billion to its own arsenal.
Because of this shift, the Kremlin dropped to fourth place in the worldwide ranking. China held steady in second place with $13.5 billion in spending.
The rest of the list features familiar names. France, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and unofficially Israel all continued to fund their programs.
The active threat
Throwing money at these weapons translates to massive active arsenals. A separate report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute highlighted that 9,745 warheads currently sit in military stockpiles, ready for use.
Russia and the United States still control roughly 83 percent of that global total. And the arms race shows no signs of slowing down.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently toured a new production facility. During the visit, he ordered his military to expand their capabilities at a rapid pace.
At the same time, NATO intelligence spotted unusual activity from the Russian Northern Fleet. Officials suspect that Moscow might be attempting a highly dangerous move, trying to hide nuclear missiles on the ocean floor.
Sources: Reuters, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, NewsUkraine.
