Pakistan
Pakistan is estimated to hold 170 nuclear warheads, about 1% of the world total, of which roughly 170 are in its military stockpile. All figures are open-source estimates as of 2026-01.
Pakistan's programme is built primarily on uranium enrichment rather than plutonium, and tested within weeks of India's 1998 tests. The A.Q. Khan network, which exported centrifuge technology from Pakistan to Libya, Iran and North Korea, is the most serious proliferation breach on record and is why enrichment technology is controlled as tightly as it is.
| Deployed strategic | none deployed |
|---|---|
| Deployed non-strategic | none reported |
| Reserve / non-deployed | 170 |
| Military stockpile | 170 |
| Total inventory | 170 incl. retired |
| Share of world total | 1.4% |
| First test | 1998-05-28 |
|---|---|
| NPT status | never joined NPT |
| Publicly declared | Yes |
| Fissile material route | Primarily highly enriched uranium |
| Civil programme | Reactors in Pakistan |
Other armed states
| Country | Estimated total |
|---|---|
| Russia | 5,420 |
| United States | 5,042 |
| China | 620 |
| France | 370 |
| United Kingdom | 225 |
| India | 190 |
| Israel | 90 |
| North Korea | 60 |
Pakistan in context
Its total inventory of 170 warheads is 1.4% of the 12,187 across the 9 states on record, ranking 7th.
Its military stockpile of 170 is 1.7% of the world's 9,745.
The estimate lists no deployed warheads for Pakistan; 170 warheads are shown as reserve.
Its first nuclear test was in 1998, 28 years ago.
Its NPT status is "never joined NPT", the same as 2 of the other 8 states on record.
| Measure | Pakistan | World (all nine states) | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total inventory | 170 | 12,187 | 1.4% of world, 7th of 9 |
| Military stockpile | 170 | 9,745 | 1.7% of world |
Worked out from the entries on this site only, so a figure compares Pakistan with what is recorded here, not with everything that exists. An entry with no value for a measure is left out of that measure's ranking and median.
Sources
- Federation of American Scientists, Status of World Nuclear Forces · retrieved 2026-09-07
- SIPRI Yearbook 2026, chapter 8: World nuclear forces
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data