According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) World Drug Report 2024, Afghanistan has long been a major producer of poppy, the base ingredient for heroin distributed in various parts of the world. However, with the Taliban regaining power in April 2022, the new Afghan government imposed a strict ban on poppy cultivation. This move not only reduced the supply of illicit substances like heroin but also affected the production of medical prescription opioids. The potential opium production in Afghanistan plummeted by 95 percent between 2022 and 2023, dropping to just 333 tons.
As illustrated in a chart using UNODC data, Myanmar emerged as the top country with the highest potential opium production in 2023. Its capacity in this segment more than doubled from previous years, surpassing Mexico’s potential production of 166 tons in 2022. Laos and Colombia, though not explicitly listed in the chart due to limited data availability, have also made contributions to global opium production in recent years.
Poppy cultivation has been a significant aspect of Afghan agricultural practices for several decades, with estimated opium production rarely falling below 2,500 tons between 1994 and 2022. While the reduction in heroin production may seem positive in theory, many Afghan farmers heavily depended on their poppy fields for income. The resulting spike in heroin prices led to the emergence of new and potentially more dangerous substances like fentanyl.