The Countries Holding The World's Nuclear Arsenal

August 6 marks the anniversary of the first time a nuclear weapon was used in war, when the United States detonated an atomic bomb above Hiroshima, Japan, killing tens of thousands of people, the majority of which were civilians. Three days later, the U.S. detonated another over Nagasaki, again killing tens of thousands of people.

While these were the first and so far only uses of nuclear weapons in war, the production, deployment and stockpiling of them has of course not stopped. Currently, there is estimated to be over 12,500 nuclear warheads in the hands of nine countries. At the top of the list are Russia and the U.S. with a combined arsenal of over 11,000.

The FAS warned in late 2021 that “instead of planning for nuclear disarmament, the nuclear-armed states appear to plan to retain large arsenals for the indefinite future. All continue to modernize their remaining nuclear forces…and all appear committed to retaining nuclear weapons for the indefinite future.”

Indeed, the most recent figures from SIPRI revealed an annual increase in the global number of stockpiled nuclear warheads in 2022.