In 2023, according to the report Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor the nine states with official and semi-official nuclear weapons possessed 9,576 nuclear warheads, which “equivalent to more than 135,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs”.
The numbers were published by the Norwegian organization shortly after Moscow announced that it would install tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which neighbors Ukraine.
To increase the world’s nuclear arsenal last year in total Russia (which has the world’s largest stockpile of 5,889 nuclear warheads), as well as China, India, North Korea and Pakistan contributed 136 new nuclear warheads.
“This increase is worrying and continues a trend that started in 2017,” noted Grethe Lauglo Ostern, one of the leaders responsible for the report.
On the other hand, the total stockpile of nuclear weapons – including decommissioned weapons – continues to show a decreasing trend. Their number fell from 12,705 to 12,512 in one year, thanks to the destruction of old nuclear warheads in Russia and the United States.
Cover image: Shutterstock
Leave a Comment