Opium production in Afghanistan
overview of illicit drug production in Afghanistan
Afghanistan has long had a history of opium poppy cultivation and harvest. Prior to the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Afghanistan's harvest produced more than 90% of illicit heroin globally, and more than 95% of the European supply. More land was used for opium in Afghanistan than for coca cultivation in Latin America. The country was the world's leading illicit drug producer from 2001 until 2024. In 2007, 93% of the non-pharmaceutical-grade opiates on the world market originated in Afghanistan. In 2019 Afghanistan still produced about 84% of the world market. This amounts to an export value of about US$4 billion, with a quarter being earned by opium farmers and the rest going to district officials, insurgents, warlords, and drug traffickers. In the seven years (1994–2000) prior to a Taliban opium ban, the Afghan farmers' share of gross income from opium was divided among 200,000 families.
The Taliban have taken a mixed stance on opium over the years. Poorly enforced restrictions in the 1990s were a prelude to a full ban on religious grounds in 2000.
“Opium production in Afghanistan” enters the record as overview of illicit drug production in Afghanistan. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Opium, production and Afghanistan can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Opium production in Afghanistan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.