An Animated History Showing Which Countries Have Had the Most Nuclear Weapons From 1945 to 2025

Sasha Medin of Data Is Beautiful, a self-described data geek, createda terrifying animation with data that shows which countries have had the most nuclear stockpiles for the past 60 years, from 1945 to 2025. Not surprisingly, the competition for first place wavers between the United States and Russia for much of the time.

The dataset presents the historical distribution of nuke stockpiles by country. Figures include both fission-based (atomic) and thermonuclear (hydrogen) weapons.