War profits: Global nuclear weapon spending surges to $91.4 billion

Geopolitical turmoil & wars can fuel economic growth. This sentence might be diabolical, but not if you are in the defence or nuclear weapons industry.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) reported a $10.7 billion increase in global spending on nuclear weapons in 2023 compared to 2022.

The world's nine-nuclear powered states, including the US, the UK, China, Russia, India, France, Israel, North Korea, & Pakistan, spent a total of $91.4 billion on their nuclear arms. This breaks down to $173.8 per minute, or $2,898 per second.

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The United States continues to dominate this segment, with a total spending of $52.5 billion, accounting for 80 per centof the total increase in spending. China is the second-biggest spender with $11.8 billion, while Russia came in third with $8.3 billion. The United Kingdom has witnessed a recent upswing, with spending increasing by 17 per centto $8.1 billion. France & India are 5th and 6th on this list respectively.

The report highlights that $387 billion has been spent on nuclear weapons in the last 5 years, with the yearly spending increaseof34 per cent. The authors note a concerning trend - 'Correlation between spending surge on military weapons & the growing global threat.'

The report highlights that most of these nuclear-armed countries have ongoing contracts, with some slated to continue till 2040. These countries also spend money on lobbying - which is providing financing for major think tanks that influence the nuclear debate. The idea is to keep 'threats' dynamic & alive so as to continue boosting military budgets.

The report ends with a caution, suggesting that surging nuclear spending will harm the economy in the long run. The report advocates for using the money for their citizen's well-being and solving global crises. The money spent on building nuclear arsenal can be diverted to address funding gaps in climate change & hunger. For example, five years of nuclear weapons spending can feed up to 45 million people currentlyfacing hardships.