A new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) warns of a potential new nuclear arms race, as the institute’s latest annual report, published on Monday, reveals a worrying trend in the development of nuclear weapons.
According to the report, nearly all nuclear-armed states are set to continue their intensive programs to modernize their nuclear arsenals in 2024, with existing weapons being upgraded and new versions added. The report highlights that, as of January 2025, approximately 9,614 nuclear warheads were in military stockpiles, with around 3,912 of these warheads being deployed on missiles and aircraft and the rest held in central storage facilities.
Notably, nearly 2,100 of the deployed warheads were held in high readiness on ballistic missiles, with the majority of these warheads belonging to Russia and the United States, but China may also be holding some warheads on missiles in peacetime, according to Sipri.
Since the end of the Cold War, the gradual dismantling of retired warheads by Russia and the United States has generally outpaced the deployment of new warheads, resulting in a global decline in the number of nuclear weapons. However, this trend is expected to reverse in the coming years, as the pace of disarmament slows and the deployment of new nuclear weapons increases, according to the institute.
“The era of reducing the number of nuclear weapons in the world, which has been ongoing since the end of the Cold War, is coming to an end” said Sipri researcher Hans M. Kristensen. “Instead, we see a clear trend of growing nuclear weapon arsenals, heightened nuclear rhetoric and the abrogation of arms control agreements.