At the turn of the year, a total of 9,604 nuclear warheads, dispersed across nine different countries, were ready for use.
This is 19 more than last year – and over 330 more than seven years ago, according to the report Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor from Norwegian People's Aid.
An incredibly alarming increase, comments the organization's general secretary Raymond Johansen.
In light of the tense global situation – and Russia's repeated threats to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine – the increase is expected to continue.
40 percent of the nuclear warheads that are ready for use are already deployed on missiles, shows the report. Within a few seconds or minutes, they can thus be fired from land, from submarines, or from fighter jets.
Already in 2023, the Swedish Peace Research Institute Sipri established that both Russia and the USA are modernizing their nuclear arsenals.
Meanwhile, half of the world's countries have now joined the UN's convention on nuclear weapons ban – but not the USA, Sweden, and other NATO countries.
Currently, the USA has nuclear weapons deployed in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Turkey. Norwegian People's Aid is concerned about France's and Germany's talk of building up a European nuclear arsenal.
Increased investments in nuclear deterrence are not the right way to go. Nuclear weapons cannot be used for anything that does not harm us ourselves, says general secretary Raymond Johansen.
Nine countries in the world have known nuclear weapons in their arsenals: Russia, the USA, China, France, the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea.
Together, the countries have 12,331 nuclear warheads, of which 2,727 are old and ready to be destroyed.
Farthest ahead in terms of readiness for use are Russia (4,299) and the USA (3,700).
More than 30 additional countries, including Sweden, are part of defense alliances where nuclear weapons are included.
Source: Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor 2024
