2026-03-31 · estimated warheads

France and the UK keep smaller but real arsenals

NATO nuclear powers outside the U.S.

Nuclear weapons can kill millions directly, and nine countries hold more than 12,000 of them. France and the UK — NATO's nuclear powers outside the US — keep an estimated 4% of the global stockpile in 2026: a small share beside the American and Russian arsenals, but a real one built on hundreds of warheads.

1 cell = 12 estimated warheads (0.1% of global nuclear arsenal) · 1,000 cells

Context

France and the UK sit in the second tier of nuclear powers. Russia and the United States control thousands of warheads each, while most other nuclear states — including these two — hold dozens to a few hundred.

The world's arsenals peaked above 60,000 warheads in 1986 and fell below 20,000 by the 2010s. That decline has since slowed, stockpiles remain above 10,000, and some countries are expanding their arsenals.

Nuclear weapons have come close to being used more than a dozen times since 1945. Treaties such as the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the test-ban accords aim to limit that risk, and dozens of countries have backed a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons outright.

Estimated warhead inventories (FAS/SIPRI via OWID).