1. The nine arsenals
No government publishes exact figures. The numbers below are the estimates of the Federation of American Scientists and SIPRI for early 2025, rounded. "Deployed" means on missiles or at bomber bases, ready for use; "stockpile" includes warheads held in reserve; the total also counts retired warheads awaiting dismantlement.
| Country | Total inventory | Deployed | First test | Delivery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russia | ≈5,450 | ≈1,700 | 1949 | ICBMs, submarines, bombers |
| United States | ≈5,180 | ≈1,770 | 1945 | ICBMs, submarines, bombers |
| China | ≈600 | ≈24 | 1964 | ICBMs, submarines, bombers |
| France | ≈290 | ≈280 | 1960 | Submarines, aircraft |
| United Kingdom | ≈225 | ≈120 | 1952 | Submarines |
| India | ≈180 | 0 | 1974 | Missiles, aircraft, submarines |
| Pakistan | ≈170 | 0 | 1998 | Missiles, aircraft |
| Israel | ≈90 | 0 | never declared | Missiles, aircraft, submarines |
| North Korea | ≈50 | 0 | 2006 | Missiles |
India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea are believed to keep warheads in storage rather than mounted on missiles, which is why their deployed figure is zero.
2. Russia and the United States
The two Cold War rivals still own almost nine warheads in ten. Both keep a "triad": land-based intercontinental missiles that can reach any point on Earth in about thirty minutes, submarines that hide at sea with missiles like the US Trident and Russian Bulava, and bombers. Around 1,700 warheads on each side sit on missiles ready to launch within minutes.
The typical warhead is smaller than people imagine: the US W87 is about 300 kilotons, the W76 on Trident about 100 kt, and Russian ICBM warheads several hundred kilotons. A single missile often carries several of them, each aimed at a different target. Twenty times Hiroshima, multiplied by ten per missile, is the modern arithmetic.
The New START treaty capped each side at 1,550 deployed strategic warheads. It expires in February 2026 and, as of this writing, nothing has replaced it.
3. China's build-up
China kept a small arsenal of a few hundred warheads for decades, on the principle of a "minimum deterrent". That has changed. Since 2020 it has been building hundreds of new missile silos in the western deserts, and its stockpile has roughly doubled to about 600 warheads. The US Department of Defense expects it to exceed 1,000 by 2030. China's DF-5 and DF-41 missiles carry warheads in the megaton range, the largest still in service anywhere.
4. The other six
France and the United Kingdom keep a few hundred warheads each, almost all on submarines, and both are modernising. India and Pakistan, neighbours who have fought several wars, hold roughly equal arsenals of under 200 and are both growing them. Israel has never confirmed its programme but is universally assessed to have around 90 warheads. North Korea has tested six devices since 2006 and is thought to have material for about 50; its newest missiles can reach the continental United States.
South Africa is the only country to have built nuclear weapons and then given them up, dismantling six bombs in 1989. Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine returned the Soviet warheads left on their soil in the 1990s.
5. Fewer bombs, faster missiles
The world's stockpile peaked at about 70,000 warheads in 1986. Treaties and the end of the Cold War cut it to roughly a sixth of that. But the decline has stalled: retired warheads are still being dismantled, while every nuclear state is modernising, and China, India, Pakistan and North Korea are adding. Researchers expect the number of usable warheads to start rising again this decade for the first time since the 1980s.