Nuclear Weapon Tests Conducted by Country

About This Dataset

The total number of nuclear weapon test explosions conducted by each country since the first test in 1945, according to the Arms Control Association. At least eight nations have carried out more than 2,000 tests in total, the great majority during the Cold War.

✨ AI Insight

Testing was overwhelmingly a two-superpower affair: the United States (1,030 tests) and the Soviet Union / Russia (715) together account for roughly 83% of all nuclear tests ever conducted. France is a distant third at 210, while the United Kingdom and China are tied at 45 each. The declared and undeclared newer nuclear states tested far less: North Korea conducted 6 tests (all between 2006 and 2017), India 3 and Pakistan 2. The sharp fall-off after the top three reflects both the maturity of the US and Soviet arsenals and the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, after which only North Korea has continued testing. The data captures how a technology pioneered by two rivals slowly spread to a small club of states.

Source: Arms Control Association (Nuclear Testing Tally)

Key Findings

Auto-computed highlights from this dataset

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United States leads with 1,030 in All Time.

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Average value in All Time: 257 · median: 45.

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Gap in All Time: United States is 515× larger than Pakistan.