Published on: 2026-10-29
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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October 29, 2026 Peace and Security
The volume of opium production in Afghanistan has increased fivefold over the year. This is the first significant growth recorded since the Taliban banned the cultivation of opium poppy in 2022. These are the results of a new study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
According to the study, the area of opium poppy cultivation increased by 330 percent – from approximately 10 thousand hectares in 2025 to more than 43 thousand hectares. The production volume is estimated to have grown by 400 percent – from about 300 to nearly 1,500 tons.
Both indicators remain significantly below the level that existed before the ban, when about 232 thousand hectares were planted with poppies. For decades, Afghanistan was the world’s largest source of illicit opium: before the ban, it accounted for about 80 percent of the global supply. The Taliban came to power in the country in August 2021. In April 2022, they banned the cultivation of poppies and all drugs.
Bypassing bans
According to the de facto Taliban authorities, this year they have destroyed 22,000 hectares of poppy crops. However, according to UNHCR data, many farmers apparently have learned to circumvent the ban. Some hide small plots among grain fields or in courtyards surrounded by walls. Others sow and harvest at different times, staggered, to make it harder to detect them.
“The fourfold increase in opium poppy cultivation shows how difficult it is to sustain the reduction of illegal opium growing when poor farmers have no other means to feed their families,” said UNODC Executive Director Monica Djuma.
She called on the de facto authorities and the international community to support rural communities – to invest in sources of income, agricultural infrastructure, and market access.
Shift to the northeast
Poppy is now grown in 16 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces – five more than a year earlier. Three-quarters of the areas are in the northeast of the country, which has definitively become the main region for poppy cultivation. Before the ban, most of the crops were located in the southwest of the country.
Prices have dropped from $570 per kilogram last year to $500, but still remain well above the pre-ban level – less than $100. According to UNODC estimates, the large price difference between regions may encourage smuggling from the northeast to the southwest.
Supplies running low
According to the study, after the ban was introduced, drug traffickers in the region apparently maintained supplies using opium reserves. However, recent seizure data indicates that these reserves are being depleted. The 2026 World Drug Report also notes the first signs of a reduction in heroin supplies to Europe.
With sustained demand and high prices, a reduction in stocks may lead to further growth in sowing in Afghanistan.
“International cooperation is necessary to investigate and eliminate the activities of transnational drug trafficking networks both in Afghanistan and around the world,” Jumaa emphasized.
The UNODC noted that further monitoring will show whether the current surge was temporary or marks a resumption of opium and heroin production growth.
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