Afghanistan: Opium Poppy Area Surges 330 Percent in a Year, First Big Rebound Since Taliban Ban
A survey released on October 29 by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) shows that the area under opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan rose by 330 percent this year, to more than 43,000 hectares, from just over 10,000 hectares in 2025.
Opium production rose even faster, by almost 400 percent, from around 300 tonnes in 2025 to just under 1,500 tonnes. It is the first significant increase since the Taliban imposed a drug ban in April 2022.
Poppy is now grown in 16 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, five more than last year, with three quarters of cultivation in the northeast. The area remains far below the roughly 232,000 hectares recorded in 2021, before the ban, when Afghanistan supplied around 80 percent of the world's opium.
Monica Juma, the UNODC's head in Afghanistan, said the rebound reflects the dire livelihoods of many farmers and the drug market's resilience to shocks. Opium remains lucrative: prices were about $570 per kilogram last year and are now around $500, compared with under $100 before the ban. Farmers increasingly hide poppy inside cereal fields or walled compounds, making enforcement harder. The Taliban authorities say they eradicated 22,000 hectares this year.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 照片：美国海军陆战队 Pete Thibodeau 中士摄于阿富汗赫尔曼德省罂粟田，公共领域 / Photo by Sgt Pete Thibodeau, USMC, poppy field in Helmand, Afghanistan, public domain
