For more than 100 years, the submarine — invented by Irish engineer John Holland and first commissioned by the U.S. Navy in 1900 — has been an integral part of the Navy. Today, 43 nations have submarines in their complement of naval forces, and the country with the most submarines is China.
To find the country with the most submarines, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed submarine count data for 2022 from Global Firepower, an annually updated, independent website that tracks defense-related information of 142 nations. Countries are ranked by the number of submarines, according to Global Firepower. The submarine ranking is solely based on the number of submarines rather than their type, quality, or capabilities.
The Germans used their submersibles as terror weapons in the World Wars and organized them in so-called wolf packs to hunt Allied convoys bound from North America for Great Britain and the Soviet Union.
The submarine of today can conduct sea- and land-attack through conventional and nuclear forces. Attack submarines may be either nuclear-powered or diesel-electric powered. A ballistic missile submarine can deploy submarine-launched ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads, and a cruise missile submarine can launch cruise missiles. Many cruise missile submarines are capable of deploying nuclear warheads on their missiles. (This is the most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile.)
Submarines can be used in support of special forces operations as well as reconnaissance responsibilities. Modern navies use the submarine primarily as a deterrent in territorial waters. (Here are 20 of the world’s most elite special forces.)
The top-three nations with the most number of submarines have 217 among them; the remaining 40 countries have a total of 295 submarines. The submarine is second to surface vessels in terms of percentage of naval inventory in the top three countries, which are the three most powerful nations on Earth.
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43. Cuba
> No. of submarines: 1 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 1.2246 – #70 of 142 countries
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42. Myanmar
> No. of submarines: 1 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.5972 – #39 of 142 countries
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41 . Poland
> No. of submarines: 1 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.4179 – #24 of 142 countries
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40. Argentina
> No. of submarines: 2 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.6091 – #40 of 142 countries
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39. Bangladesh
> No. of submarines: 2 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.6851 – #46 of 142 countries
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38. Ecuador
> No. of submarines: 2 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 1.1235 – #68 of 142 countries
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37. Malaysia
> No. of submarines: 2 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.7091 – #48 of 142 countries
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36. Portugal
> No. of submarines: 2 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.7282 – #49 of 142 countries
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35. Spain
> No. of submarines: 2 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.2901 – #19 of 142 countries
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34. Venezuela
> No. of submarines: 2 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.6664 – #45 of 142 countries
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33. South Africa
> No. of submarines: 3
> Overall military strength: 0.4276 – #26 of 142 countries
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32. Azerbaijan
> No. of submarines: 4 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 1.0251 – #63 of 142 countries
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31. Canada
> No. of submarines: 4 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.3601 – #23 of 142 countries
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30. Chile
> No. of submarines: 4 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.8169 – #54 of 142 countries
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29. Indonesia
> No. of submarines: 4 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.2251 – #15 of 142 countries
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28. Netherlands
> No. of submarines: 4 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.5937 – #37 of 142 countries
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27. Taiwan
> No. of submarines: 4 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.3215 – #21 of 142 countries
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26. Israel
> No. of submarines: 5 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.2621 – #18 of 142 countries
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25. Singapore
> No. of submarines: 5 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.6253 – #42 of 142 countries
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24. Sweden
> No. of submarines: 5 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.4231 – #25 of 142 countries
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23. Algeria
> No. of submarines: 6 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.4724 – #31 of 142 countries
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22. Australia
> No. of submarines: 6 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.2377 – #17 of 142 countries
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21. Germany
> No. of submarines: 6 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.2322 – #16 of 142 countries
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20. Norway
> No. of submarines: 6 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.5455 – #33 of 142 countries
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19. Peru
> No. of submarines: 6 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.7453 – #50 of 142 countries
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18. Vietnam
> No. of submarines: 6 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.4521 – #28 of 142 countries
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17. Brazil
> No. of submarines: 7
> Overall military strength: 0.1695 – #10 of 142 countries
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16. Egypt
> No. of submarines: 8 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.1869 – #12 of 142 countries
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15. Italy
> No. of submarines: 8 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.1801 – #11 of 142 countries
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14. Pakistan
> No. of submarines: 9
> Overall military strength: 0.1572 – #9 of 142 countries
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13. France
> No. of submarines: 10
> Overall military strength: 0.1283 – #7 of 142 countries
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12. United Kingdom
> No. of submarines: 10 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.1382 – #8 of 142 countries
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11. Colombia
> No. of submarines: 11 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.6438 – #44 of 142 countries
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10. Greece
> No. of submarines: 11 (tied)
> Overall military strength: 0.4506 – #27 of 142 countries
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9. Turkey
> No. of submarines: 12
> Overall military strength: 0.1961 – #13 of 142 countries
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8. India
> No. of submarines: 17
> Overall military strength: 0.0979 – #4 of 142 countries
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7. Iran
> No. of submarines: 19
> Overall military strength: 0.2104 – #14 of 142 countries
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6. Japan
> No. of submarines: 21
> Overall military strength: 0.1195 – #5 of 142 countries
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5. South Korea
> No. of submarines: 22
> Overall military strength: 0.1261 – #6 of 142 countries
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4. North Korea
> No. of submarines: 35
> Overall military strength: 0.4621 – #30 of 142 countries
3. United States
> No. of submarines: 68
> Overall military strength: 0.0453 – #1 of 142 countries
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2. Russia
> No. of submarines: 70
> Overall military strength: 0.0501 – #2 of 142 countries
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1. China
> No. of submarines: 79
> Overall military strength: 0.0511 – #3 of 142 countries
Methodology
To find the country with the most submarines, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed submarine count data for 2022 from Global Firepower, an annually updated, independent website that tracks defense-related information of 142 nations. Countries are ranked by the number of submarines, according to Global Firepower, which notes it made estimates when official figures were not available.
The submarine ranking is solely based on the number of submarines, which can include nuclear- and diesel-electric-powered types. The ranking also does not take into account submarine classification, age, and construction quality. 24/7 Wall St. also added from Global Firepower the site’s PowerIndex, which rates countries using 50 measures in areas such as military might, financials, logistical capability and geography. Lower scores indicate more powerful fighting capabilities.
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