THE UK Government increased its spending on nuclear weaponry by 17 per cent in the first full year of Labour in power, according to new statistics.
The data, published by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), shows that spending on nuclear weapons rose globally in 2025 by 19% to reach its highest levels ever.
In total, eight countries other than the UK have nuclear weapons: France, the US, Russia, India, China, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea.
The ICAN report said that in total the nine nations had spent $118.8 billion in 2025, up 19% on 2025. The US spent $69.2bn, an increase of 22%, while Pakistan spent £1.5bn, an increase of 18%.
The UK spent a total of $12.6bn on nuclear weaponry in 2025, up 17% on 2024.
The UK was also third in terms of absolute spend, behind China in second place on $13.5bn, an increase of 7% on 2024.
Russia, who had been third in 2024, dropped to fourth, upping spending by 6% to $9.5bn.
Elsewhere, the report from ICAN, which produces the most authoritative figures on annual nuclear weapons expenditure, found that the private sector earned at least $38bn from nuclear weapons contracts in 2025.
ICAN said: “This money is being wasted given the nuclear-armed states agree a nuclear war can never be won and should never be fought. It is also diverting resources from acute human needs.
“A minute of nuclear weapons spending could provide access to clean water and sanitation for 3478 people. A day of this spending could save two million people from food insecurity. A week could protect more than 12 billion people from measles, mumps and rubella. A year’s spending could provide more than six million homes with solar power.”
ICAN also noted that the increase in spending on nuclear weaponry is happening alongside cuts to the humanitarian and development sector.
In the UK, the Government had pledged the UN target of 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) to the international aid budget each year. However, the Tories cut this to 0.5% in 2021, and Labour will cut it again to 0.3% from 2027.
The UK spent more than triple the UN’s entire annual budget for 2025 ($3.72bn) on nuclear weaponry. The US spent more than 19 times the UN budget.
Susi Snyder, ICAN’s director of programmes and co-author of the report, said: “At a time when the cost of living is skyrocketing and food and fuel are unaffordable for so many, it is unthinkable that these nine countries are spending billions on a false promise of security.
“Nuclear weapons cannot be used without causing catastrophe, and the false logic of nuclear deterrence requires us to trust our enemies with our very survival.”
Alicia Sanders-Zakre, a second co-author of the report and ICAN’s head of policy, added: “Our research is annual, but nuclear weapons spending is not.
“The nine nuclear-armed states are planning to maintain and modernise their nuclear forces for decades to come, diverting untold billions of dollars away from real human security needs."
