UNODC World Drug Report 2026: Global drug markets transforming rapidly as technology, novel drug types and instability present traffickers with new opportunities

• World Drug Report: https://www.unodc.org/wdr
• Monica Juma, UNODC Executive Director’s message: https://youtu.be/ocrI0CR3SqQ

Vienna, 26 June 2026: Drug traffickers are exploiting technologies and global instability to introduce novel drugs, experiment with different trade routes and methods, and aggressively push into new markets, said the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in its World Drug Report 2026 released today.
“We have seen an unprecedented spike in new types of drugs on the market, and worryingly, some are more potent or dangerous than before,” said Monica Juma, Executive Director of UNODC. “And, we are already suffering the impact: millions of premature deaths and healthy years of life needlessly lost; drug trafficking networks that are distorting economies; the destruction of lives, communities and livelihoods; and the compounding of insecurity and violence. The imperative to focus on stopping organized crime groups has never been greater. We must surge deterrence efforts, increase intelligence-sharing and coordinate joint operations, while investing more in prevention and treatment.”
An estimated 331 million people used a drug in 2024, or 6.2 per cent of the global population aged between 15 and 64, compared to 5.2 per cent in 2014. Cannabis remains the most widely used drug by far, with 256 million users in 2024, followed by opioids (63 million), amphetamines (32 million), cocaine (25 million) and ecstasy (21 million).
Drug traffickers continue to innovate
Illicit drug manufacturers continue to invent new synthetic drugs in attempts to skirt regulations and avoid detection, with five times more drug types found in seizures in 2024 than before 2000. The number of new psychoactive substances (NPS) reported to have been circulating in drug markets, for example, reached 755 in 2024, with 118 of these substances reported for the first time.
A turning point in the global opioid market
The 2022 drug ban in Afghanistan has continued to severely constrain the illicit production of opium and heroin. Although production in Myanmar rose from 420 tons in 2021 to over 1,000 in 2025, the increase in the country (together with quantities produced in other countries monitored by UNODC, i.e., Laos and Mexico) does not offset the declines in Afghanistan, which in 2022 produced more than 6,000 tons of opium.
The increasing availability of novel synthetic opioids such as fentanyls, nitazenes and orphines on the market suggests that traffickers are searching for alternatives to heroin. A turn away from plant-based opiates toward synthetics could cause a permanent shift in the global opioid market, with ramifications on how these drugs are used and the harms therein. Impact of drug use on safety and security
Drug use can be associated with acquisitive crime, violence within families and social groups, and victimization of – and by – those who use drugs. But these outcomes are also influenced by wider factors such as the context of the drug use, the personal histories of the people involved, such as poverty, homelessness, poor mental health and contextual factors in the community such as a potential lack of access to drug treatment and social services. Such factors also represent entry points for intervention and prevention efforts.