Amid growing conflicts in the world the nuclear powers. Especially China, have increased their investment in nuclear weapons in 2022 for the third year in a row.
According to a report released by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) on Monday. The world’s nine nuclear powers spent $82.9 billion during 2022. America spent more than half of it.
Meanwhile, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has released a report. Detailing the weapons possessed by Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, and the United States.
According to the report, the number of weapons possessed by these countries at the beginning of this year has decreased from 12,710 at the beginning of 2022 to 12,512.
Some of these include old weapons that are to be dismantle. But according to the SIPRI report, there are 9,576 weapons in the military stockpiles that can be use.
The number of these weapons included in the military stockpile for possible use includes 86 new weapons compared to the previous year.
SIPRI director Dan Smith told AFP that we may be reaching or have reached a point where the number of chemical weapons. That have been declining for a long time is beginning to increase.
Pointing to the stockpile of usable nuclear weapons, Dean Smith said that number is now growing.
Nuclear weapons
However, they say this number is still far less than the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the 1980s. Which was 70,000 at the time.
The largest increase during the period under review was in China’s stockpile of nuclear weapons, which increased from 350 to 410.
India, Pakistan, and North Korea also increased their reserves, while Russia slightly increased its reserves from 4,477 to 4,489.
The remaining nuclear powers maintained their arsenals.
De Smith said that the bigger picture is that there has been a decline in the number of nuclear weapons over the past 30 years. Which has now come to an end.
According to ICAN, which was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, spending on nuclear weapons has seen a three percent increase over 2021. This is the third year in a row that spending has increased.
The total amount spent on weapons in 2022 means that $157,664 was spent on nuclear weapons every minute last year.
Washington spent $43.7 billion in 2022, slightly less than last year but more than other countries.
China spent $11.7 billion last year, while Russia spent $9.6 billion. In comparison to 2021, both countries spent six percent more money.
India spent the most money on weapons last year. India spent $2.7 billion up 21.8 percent from 2021, while Britain increased spending by 11 percent.