Current Top Producer: Myanmar

🇲🇲 Myanmar

  • Opium Production: 1,080 metric tons in 2024 (36% increase from previous year)
  • Cultivation Area: Over 47,000 hectares in 2023 (135% increase since 2021 military coup)
  • Economic Impact: Valued between $589 million and $1.57 billion annually
  • Key Regions: Shan State (largest producer), followed by Chin and Kachin states

Afghanistan's Decline

🇦🇫 Afghanistan

  • Taliban Ban: Production plummeted by 95% after the 2022 ban
  • Cultivation Area: Fell from 233,000 hectares in 2022 to 10,800 hectares in 2023
  • Price Surge: Opium prices increased tenfold from $75/kg in 2021 to $750/kg in 2024
  • Residual Production: Limited cultivation continues in remote areas like Badakhshan and Balochistan

Global Context and Other Producers

The "Golden Triangle" (Myanmar, Laos, Thailand) has reemerged as a major opium-producing region due to regional instability.

Other Significant Producers

  • Mexico: Key supplier to the U.S. with estimated production of 26 metric tons of pure heroin
  • Colombia: Production declined from 6,540 hectares in 2001 to 1,100 hectares in 2009
  • India: Only country authorized by the UN to produce gum opium for medicinal purposes

Reasons for Myanmar's Dominance

  • Civil War and Economic Collapse: The 2021 military coup devastated Myanmar's economy, making opium cultivation a lifeline for farmers
  • Insecurity and Corruption: Armed groups and criminal syndicates facilitate production and trafficking
  • Global Demand: Myanmar supplies heroin to markets in Asia, Australia, and Europe

Trends and Future Outlook

  • Stockpiles: Afghanistan still holds large opium stockpiles (estimated 13,200 tonnes in 2022)
  • Synthetic Alternatives: Reduced opium availability may lead to a rise in synthetic opioids like fentanyl
  • Taliban's Dilemma: Pressure to sustain the ban amid economic hardship

Conclusion

Myanmar is currently the world's largest producer of opium and heroin, driven by civil war, economic crisis, and entrenched criminal networks. Afghanistan's production has sharply declined due to the Taliban's ban, but global heroin markets remain adaptive, with potential shifts toward synthetic opioids.

Information based on UNODC reports and regional security analyses as of 2025.