2026-07-21 · estimated warheads
Nine countries hold almost every warhead
Global stockpiles fell after the Cold War — but thousands remain deployed or stored.
Nine countries hold virtually every nuclear warhead on Earth — and just two hold the vast majority. Russia accounts for about 45% of the world's roughly 12,000 warheads and the United States for 42%, leaving seven states to share the rest. Four decades after the 1986 peak of 70,300, the global total is still shrinking — but usable stockpiles are growing again.
1 cell = 12 estimated warheads (0.1% of global nuclear arsenal) · 1,000 cells
Context
Beneath the headline total, the picture sharpens: about 9,745 warheads are in military stockpiles for use by missiles, aircraft, ships, and submarines, and roughly 3,912 of those are deployed with operational forces. Around 2,100 US, Russian, British, and French warheads are kept on high alert, ready for use on short notice.
The smaller arsenals are not standing still. China's stockpile of roughly 620 warheads is expanding, as are those of the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, and North Korea — and possibly Russia — while the US is still reducing slowly and France and Israel hold steady.
All of these figures are estimates, and the window on them is narrowing: the UK stopped publishing stockpile numbers in 2021, US–Russian New START data exchanges ended in 2023, and France announced in early 2026 that it will no longer disclose its arsenal size.
FAS / SIPRI approximate shares, rounded.
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Credit this grid as Inagrid — https://inagrid.com/e/2026-07-21-nuclear-warheads