UN reports fourfold rise in Afghan opium poppy cultivation despite Taliban ban

A sharp rise after the 2022 ban

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime said on Thursday, 29 October, that opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan rose sharply in 2026 compared with 2025. Its report calls it the first significant increase since the Taliban imposed a narcotics ban in April 2022. The agency puts cultivation at 43,000 hectares in 2026, up from 10,000 hectares in 2025, a rise of 330%. Opium production rose 400% over the same period, from 300 tonnes to 1,500 tonnes, and cultivation has spread into more provinces. Output remains below pre-ban levels, when more than 200,000 hectares were planted just before the prohibition.

202510,000

202643,000

2025

10000 hectares

2026

43000 hectares

Data from the article text

2025300

20261,500

2025

300 tonnes

2026

1500 tonnes

Data from the article text

Poverty pushes farmers underground

The agency attributes the increase to deepening poverty, which it says has led some farmers to grow opium in secret. Plots are hidden inside cereal fields or behind walls to avoid detection. UNODC called on the international community to give farmers more support so they can move away from illicit crops. In a statement, the agency's executive director, Monica Juma, said:

“The fourfold increase in opium poppy cultivation shows the difficulty in sustaining decreases in illicit opium cultivation when poor farmers have no alternatives to feed their families.”

A 22-year-old farmer in Badakhshan, the province that has become the main growing area, told AFP that without opium his family could not afford basic food. He said Taliban officials had threatened growers and that his crops had been destroyed several times, yet he keeps planting. Clashes in May left two people dead after Afghan security forces tried to destroy poppy fields in the province.

The economics of the crop

According to UNODC figures, a hectare of poppy generated 10,000 dollars in 2023, while a hectare of wheat brought in a little over 770 dollars. The price of dried opium fell from 570 dollars per kilogram in 2025 to 500 dollars in 2026, yet it remains far above the under 100 dollars per kilogram seen before the ban. The agency estimates that intermediaries' total revenue reached about 525 million US dollars in the reporting year, roughly the 2018 to 2021 average. UNODC estimated in 2025 that full economic development would need about 500 million dollars, and only 10% of that had been funded by donors and the Taliban authorities.

Taliban rejects the findings

The Taliban interior ministry rejected the report and its figures, saying they contradict official information and field evidence. A deputy minister said in a statement that the report did not accurately reflect the situation and ignored the practical results of the anti-drug campaign. Taliban authorities say they have destroyed more than 22,000 hectares of poppy in 2026. On Tuesday, 27 October, Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi called the fight against narcotics one of the administration's greatest achievements. He also said the international community has a role to play, stating:

“An effective fight against this phenomenon is a shared responsibility of both Afghanistan and the international community.”

What happens next

UNODC says continued monitoring is needed, because it is too early to judge whether the increase is temporary or a sign of a renewed rise in cultivation. Its representative in Afghanistan, Polleak Ok Serei, described opium as an international problem, since Afghan drugs are consumed well beyond neighbouring countries. He argued that a strategy to reduce demand is also needed. The European Drugs Agency counted about 850,000 people using opioids in the EU in 2024, and Afghan opium is the main source of heroin there.