Global arms buildup: Sipri sees the beginning of a new nuclear weapons era

Many countries are responding to the world's crises by rearming, and nuclear weapons are no exception. According to a peace research institute, the time for reducing arsenals is over. China, in particular, is said to be increasing its warhead inventory.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a new era of threat has begun with the renewed buildup of nuclear arsenals by the world's nuclear-armed states. According to SIPRI, as of January 2025, of the estimated total global stockpile of 12,241 warheads, approximately 9,614 warheads were in military stockpiles for potential deployment. Approximately 2,100 of the deployed warheads were on high alert on ballistic missiles, almost all of which belong to either the United States or Russia.

"The era of reducing the number of nuclear weapons in the world, which has continued since the end of the Cold War, is coming to an end," the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute declared in its annual inventory of the world's most dangerous weapons. Instead, there is a trend toward growing nuclear arsenals, intensified nuclear rhetoric, and the abandonment of arms control agreements, according to the peace research institute.

According to SIPRI, the nine nuclear-weapon states—the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel—all planned to increase their stockpiles due to global tensions. Russia and the United States, which together possess around 90 percent of all nuclear weapons, had kept the size of their respective operational warheads relatively stable in 2024. However, both countries were undertaking extensive modernization programs that could increase the size of their arsenals in the future.

According to the Peace Research Institute, the fastest-growing arsenal is China's, which has been adding about 100 new warheads annually since 2023. China could have at least as many intercontinental ballistic missiles as Russia or the United States by the end of the decade. According to estimates, Russia and the United States possessed approximately 5,459 and 5,177 nuclear warheads, respectively, while China possessed about 600.