Overview
- Cultivated area fell to 10,200 hectares, down 20% from 2024 and far below the 232,000 hectares estimated before the 2022 ban.
- Opium production dropped about one-third to 296 tonnes, extending the post-ban contraction.
- The price for dry opium slid 27% to $570 per kilogram, yet remains well above pre-ban averages as farmers’ revenues nearly halved.
- Seizures in and around Afghanistan were about 50% higher by late 2024, driven largely by methamphetamine trafficking.
- UNODC urges pairing eradication with alternative livelihoods and expanded monitoring of synthetic drugs, citing drought, over 40% of farmland lying fallow, the return of roughly four million people, and cultivation concentrating in pockets such as Badakhshan.