Nine countries currently have nuclear weapons: Russia, the United States, China, France, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea. These nuclear powers differ a lot in how many nuclear warheads they have. The Table shows that the warheads differ in how — and how quickly — they can be used: some are designed for strategic use away from the battlefield, such as against arms industries or infrastructure, while others are for nonstrategic, tactical use on the battlefield. And while some warheads are not deployed, or even retired and queued for dismantlement, a substantial share of them is deployed on ballistic missiles or bomber bases and can be used quickly.

After increasing for almost half a century after their creation in the 1940s, nuclear arsenals reached its peak in the 1980s. Since then, we have seen a reversal of this trend, as the table shows. The nuclear powers reduced their arsenals (also number of nuclear tests conducted per year) a lot in the following decades, and the total number of warheads across all countries fell below 20,000 in the 2010s. The decline has slowed since then, and the total stockpile still consists of more than 10,000 warheads. Some countries have also been expanding their arsenals.

Estimated Nuclear Warhead Inventories, 2023
1

Strategic warheads are designed for use away from the battlefield, such as against military bases, arms industries or infrastructure.
Deployed are those on ballistic missiles, submarines, or bomber bases. Retired are those queued for dismantlement.
Stockpiles include warheads assigned to military forces, but exclude retired warheads queued for dismantlement.
Country Deployed (2023) Non-Deployed (2023) Nuclear Stockpiles Trend over time2
Strategic Non-strategic In Reserve Retired

Change (+/-)
(1945-1985)

Change (+/-)
(1985-2023)

 Total (2023) Stockpiles Tests Conducted
Russia 1674 0 2815 1400 36675 -32336 4489
36.8K 150 150 5.24K 17.3K 36.8K 21.3K 8.04K 4.60K 4.49K
242 0 18 212 186 242 57 0 0 0
United States 1670 100 1938 1536 21756 -19751 3708
29.5K 1.70K 1.70K 29.5K 28.5K 23.5K 11.0K 8.57K 4.72K 3.71K
366 0 49 343 366 180 92 0 0 0
China 0 0 410 0 220 190 410
410 0 0 1 170 220 234 235 250 410
16 0 0 1 15 16 9 4 0 0
France 280 0 10 0 280 10 290
510 0 0 4 145 280 510 350 300 290
88 0 0 12 51 88 53 6 0 0
United Kingdom 120 0 105 0 345 -125 225
500 5 5 271 500 350 250 280 225 225
22 0 3 22 2 12 6 0 0 0
Pakistan 0 0 170 0 0 170 170
170 0 0 0 0 0 0 38 120 170
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
India 0 0 164 0 0 164 164
164 0 0 0 0 0 0 33 100 164
2 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0
Israel 0 0 90 0 40 50 90
90 0 0 0 17 40 62 80 80 90
North Korea 0 0 30 0 0 30 30
30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 30
3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3

Sourced from Federation of American Scientists (2023) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
1

The exact number of countries’ warheads is secret, and the estimates are based on publicly available information, historical records, and occasional leaks. Warheads vary substantially in their power.
2

Each point represents the corresponding value at a 10 year interval starting from 1945 till 2023