Afghanistan’s once-booming opium industry has shrunk dramatically with cultivation falling by 20 percent in 2025, according to a United Nations report warning of a sharp rise in synthetic drug production.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said on Thursday that the area devoted to the cultivation of opium poppies dropped from 12,800 to 10,200 hectares (31,630 to 25,200 acres) this year, barely a fraction of the 232,000 hectares (573,000 acres) cultivated before the Taliban’s narcotics ban took effect in 2022.
The Taliban, which returned to power in 2021, outlawed poppy cultivation across the country a year later, ending decades of reliance on the illicit crop, which once made Afghanistan the world’s largest producer. In 2013, it supplied about 74 percent of the opium worldwide.
“After the ban, many farmers turned to growing cereals and other crops. However, deteriorating weather conditions due to drought and low rainfall have led to more than 40 percent of agricultural land being left fallow,” the UNODC said.
The agency estimated Afghanistan’s total opium output at 296 tonnes in 2024, placing it behind Myanmar for the first time in decades. Revenues for farmers have plunged by nearly half, falling 48 percent to about $134m this year.
While production has dropped, prices remain high, nearly five times the pre-ban average, as limited supply continues to meet persistent demand.
Before the ban, Afghan farmers harvested more than 4,600 tonnes of opium each year despite facing detention, injury or death at the hands of security forces. Since the ban, most of the processing equipment has been destroyed, and the geography of cultivation has shifted.
Rise of synthetic drugs
The UN report noted that poppy fields have moved to northeastern Afghanistan, particularly Badakhshan province, where some farmers have resisted the crackdown. In May 2024, clashes between farmers and Taliban forces enforcing the ban killed several people.
The UN has urged the international community to help Afghan farmers develop alternative livelihoods, a call echoed by the Taliban government, which has nevertheless struggled to provide economic substitutes for those who once depended on the opium trade.
At the same time, the UNODC warned that organised criminal networks are increasingly turning to synthetic drugs, particularly methamphetamine, which are easier to produce and harder to detect. Seizures in Afghanistan and neighbouring countries rose by 50 percent in late 2024 compared with the previous year.
“Synthetic drugs appear to have become a new economic model for organised criminal groups due to their relatively easy production, greater difficulty in detection, and relative resilience to climate change,” the report said.
Afghanistan’s opium output peaked in 2017 at nearly 9,900 tonnes worth $1.4bn, accounting for about 7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
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