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Data

Current biological weapons activity

About this data

Source
Various sources (2022) – processed by Our World in Data
Last updated
September 5, 2022
Date range
2022–2022

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

Various sources – Biological and chemical weapons proliferation

This dataset provides information on countries activities' on biological and chemical weapons, using information from Arms Control Association (2022), Nuclear Threat Initiative (2022), Center for Nonproliferation Studies (2008), the UN (2022), and a few supplementary sources.

You can download the code and complete dataset, including supplementary variables and country profiles with additional information, from GitHub: https://github.com/owid/notebooks/tree/main/BastianHerre/biological_chemical_weapons

Retrieved on
May 9, 2022
Retrieved from
https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/cbwprolif
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Arms Control Association (2022). Chemical and Biological Weapons Status at a Glance. https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/cbwprolif; Nuclear Threat Initiative (2022). Countries. https://www.nti.org/countries/; Center for Nonproliferation Studies (2008). Chemical and Biological Weapons: Possession and Programs Past and Present. https://nonproliferation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/2008-Chemical-and-Biological-Weapons_-Possession-and-Programs-Past-and-Present.pdf; United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (2022). Biological Weapons Convention. https://treaties.unoda.org/t/bwc; United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (2022). Chemical Weapons Convention. https://treaties.unoda.org/t/cwc.

This dataset provides information on countries activities' on biological and chemical weapons, using information from Arms Control Association (2022), Nuclear Threat Initiative (2022), Center for Nonproliferation Studies (2008), the UN (2022), and a few supplementary sources.

You can download the code and complete dataset, including supplementary variables and country profiles with additional information, from GitHub: https://github.com/owid/notebooks/tree/main/BastianHerre/biological_chemical_weapons

Retrieved on
May 9, 2022
Retrieved from
https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/cbwprolif
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Arms Control Association (2022). Chemical and Biological Weapons Status at a Glance. https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/cbwprolif; Nuclear Threat Initiative (2022). Countries. https://www.nti.org/countries/; Center for Nonproliferation Studies (2008). Chemical and Biological Weapons: Possession and Programs Past and Present. https://nonproliferation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/2008-Chemical-and-Biological-Weapons_-Possession-and-Programs-Past-and-Present.pdf; United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (2022). Biological Weapons Convention. https://treaties.unoda.org/t/bwc; United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (2022). Chemical Weapons Convention. https://treaties.unoda.org/t/cwc.

How we process data at Our World in Data

All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.

At the link below you can find a detailed description of the structure of our data pipeline, including links to all the code used to prepare data across Our World in Data.

Read about our data pipeline

Reuse this work

  • All data produced by third-party providers and made available by Our World in Data are subject to the license terms from the original providers. Our work would not be possible without the data providers we rely on, so we ask you to always cite them appropriately (see below). This is crucial to allow data providers to continue doing their work, enhancing, maintaining and updating valuable data.
  • All data, visualizations, and code produced by Our World in Data are completely open access under the Creative Commons BY license. You have the permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited.

Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Current biological weapons activity”. Our World in Data (2026). Data adapted from Various sources. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260511-092124/grapher/biological-weapons.html [online resource] (archived on May 11, 2026).

How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

Various sources (2022) – processed by Our World in Data

Full citation

Various sources (2022) – processed by Our World in Data. “Current biological weapons activity” [dataset]. Various sources, “Biological and chemical weapons proliferation” [original data]. Retrieved May 11, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260511-092124/grapher/biological-weapons.html (archived on May 11, 2026).

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