Global spending on nuclear weapons hits $91.4 billion, with US top spender

Lina Portman5 days ago

0 3 minutes read

The world's nine nuclear powers will spend $91 billion on their nuclear arsenals in 2023, or nearly $3,000 every second, according to a new report from a global coalition of disarmament campaigners.

Topping the list is the United States, which spent $51.5 billion, more than all other nations combined. That's nearly $100,000 per minute to develop new intercontinental ballistic missiles, new bomb-dropping planes and new submarines, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) report.

The United States spent 18% more than last year, the report said. The $7.8 billion increase in nuclear weapons spending accounts for nearly 80% of the $10.7 billion increase in global spending, according to ICAN. The other big spenders were China at $11.9 billion; Russia at $8.3 billion; and the United Kingdom at $8.1 billion. The increase in global spending in 2023 is the largest ever recorded by ICAN in a single year.

ICAN is a coalition of non-governmental organizations from 100 countries that advocates for the adoption of the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Based in Geneva, the organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for its work in drawing attention to the UN treaty and the catastrophic impact of nuclear weapons.

“The acceleration of spending on these inhumane and destructive weapons over the past five years does not improve global security but rather poses a global threat,” Alicia Sanders-Zakre, co-author of the report, said in a statement.

ICAN’s fifth annual report comes in a year when the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists’ infamous Doomsday Clock remains at 90 seconds to midnight. It also comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his country will train to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in response to U.S. support for Ukraine and Israel’s war on Gaza that threatens to create conflict across the Middle East.

Here's what else you need to know in the report.

Global spending

Every nuclear power has increased its spending on nuclear arsenals, according to the report. The other countries in order of spending are: France, India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea. China has overtaken Russia to become the second largest spending country.

Annual spending on nuclear arsenals increased by 34%, or $23.2 billion, in the five years that ICAN published its annual analysis. Meanwhile, nearly 100 countries have signed the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons since 2017.

The United States recorded the highest increase at $16.1 billion, followed by the United Kingdom. Pakistan, which spent $1 billion in 2023, saw the highest rate of increase in spending at 60%. The United States and the United Kingdom come in second and third, with 45% and 43%.

The total spent by all nuclear powers over five years is $386.9 billion, $27 billion more than the executive director of the U.N. World Food Programme, David Beasley, said in 2021 it would take to end world hunger within a decade.

Future US spending

US nuclear spending is not expected to decline anytime soon.

A 2023 Congressional Budget Office report projected that U.S. arsenal spending would cost $756 billion between 2023 and 2032, an increase of $122 billion over their estimates for the 2021 to 2030 period. Average planned annual spending was $75 billion per year.

The total includes $305 billion for maintaining current and future nuclear arsenals and systems; $247 billion for modernizing nuclear delivery systems; $108 billion for modernizing nuclear weapons laboratories and early warning systems; and $96 billion for contingency costs.

The funding would be split between the Defense Department and the Energy Department, according to the congressional report. Defense would pay about two-thirds of the costs, primarily for nuclear submarines and intercontinental ballistic missiles; energy costs would go primarily to nuclear weapons labs.

Company profits

According to the ICAN report, twenty companies working in the development and maintenance of nuclear weapons have earned more than $30 billion from their work, including at least $7.9 billion in new contracts.

The top companies in the report are: Honeywell International with $6.1 billion; Northrop Grumman with $5.9 billion; BAE Systems with $3.3 billion; Lockheed Martin with $2.8 billion; and General Dynamics with $2.7 billion.

Babcock International's $884 million represents nearly a quarter of its total revenue. The company is involved in the production of nuclear submarines for the United States and the United Kingdom.

Companies are spending more and more money lobbying the U.S. and French governments to continue their work.

The top spenders are: Boeing with $17.7 million; Lockheed Martin with $15.9 million; General Dynamics with $15.4 million; and RTX with $14.7 million.

Global spending

Future US spending

Company profits

Lina Portman

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