UNIS/NAR/1495
12 March 2025
VIENNA, 12 March (UN Information Service) – Prices for opium in Afghanistan skyrocketed to US $750 per kilogram in 2024, according to a new brief released by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) today. This represents a tenfold increase from the US $75/kg price in 2022, before Afghanistan's de-facto authorities imposed a drugs ban.
The post-ban decrease in production has led to a decline in opiate trafficking, with both heroin and opium seizures down about 50 per cent in weight since 2021. Despite the lower trade volumes, the high price per kilogram ensures massive profits are still being made, primarily benefiting high-level traders and exporters in organized crime groups. Moreover, opiate stocks at the end of 2022 were estimated to have totaled 13,200 tons – enough to potentially meet demand for Afghan opiates until 2027.
“The surge in opium prices and the substantial stockpiles mean that drug trafficking in Afghanistan remains a highly profitable illicit trade,” said Ghada Waly, Executive Director of UNODC. “The profits are being channeled to transnational organized crime groups, destabilizing Afghanistan, the region and beyond. We need a coordinated counternarcotics strategy that targets trafficking networks, while at the same time investing in viable economic livelihoods for farmers, to provide long-term stability for Afghanistan and its people.”
Afghanistan’s stockpiles before the drop in opium cultivation may have been worth between US $4.6 to US $5.9 billion, or roughly 23-29 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product in 2023. This may have helped mitigate some of the economic challenges faced by Afghanistan since the return of the de-facto authorities.
Nevertheless, the majority (60 per cent) of the stockpiles are likely held by large traders and exporters. Only 30 per cent of farmers held small to modest stockpiles in 2022, meaning that most farmers who previously cultivated opium are likely experiencing severe financial hardship. Sustainable economic alternatives are urgently needed to discourage them from potentially returning to poppy cultivation, particularly given currently high opium prices.
The continued supply shortage of opium may motivate buyers and sellers to look to alternative drugs that are potentially even more harmful than heroin, like fentanyl or other synthetic opioids.
Read the Afghanistan Drug Insights Volume IV: Drug trafficking and opiate stocks here. The report was launched during the 2025 Commission on Narcotic Drugs at 11:30 hrs (CET) on 12 March. Venue: M-building, Room 7.
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Note to editors: The Afghanistan Drug Insights series is covering a range of topics related to the drug situation in Afghanistan, including opium cultivation, opium production, and treatment of substance use disorders. The remaining reports in the series will cover the socioeconomic situation of farmers after the drugs ban and drug use.
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For further information, please contact:
Sonya Yee
Chief, UNODC Advocacy Section
Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-4990
Email: unodc-press[at]un.org
Prices for opium in Afghanistan skyrocketed to US $750 per kilogram in 2024, according to a new brief released by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) today.
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