According to a report published by the American Federation of Scientists entitled "Status of World Nuclear Forces," Israel is the world's eighth largest nuclear power.
The estimated global nuclear warhead inventories in 2022 are dominated by the US and Russia, which have 5,428 and 5,977 nuclear warheads respectively, out of 13,000 nuclear warheads worldwide. China has 350 nuclear warheads, France 290, the UK 225, Pakistan 165, India 160, Israel 90, and North Korea 20. Iran is striving to become the world's 10th nuclear power.
In 1987, during the later stages of the Cold War, there were more than 70,000 nuclear warheads worldwide - 5.5 times the number today.
The report said, "The US is still reducing its nuclear stockpile slowly. France and Israel have relatively stable inventories. But China, India, North Korea, Pakistan and the UK, as well as possibly Russia, are all thought to be increasing their stockpiles."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on April 20, 2022.
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