Myanmar now the world’s main source of illicit opium following decline of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, the UN says.
Published On 3 Dec 2025
Opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar has hit a 10-year peak, with the crop area increasing in all growing regions in the war-scarred country, the United Nations says.
In its latest Myanmar opium survey, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) found that poppy cultivation increased by 17 percent compared with the previous year, a jump from 45,200 hectares (about 111,700 acres) to 53,100 hectares (about 131,200 acres) of land growing the illicit crop.
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The growth “reaffirms Myanmar’s role as the world’s known main source of illicit opium, following the continued decline of cultivation in Afghanistan“, the UNODC said on Wednesday.
“This major expansion in cultivation shows the extent to which the opium economy has re-established itself over the past years – and points to potential further growth in the future,” said Delphine Schantz, UNODC’s representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
New report out now!
The #Myanmar Opium Survey 2025 shows a 17% increase in poppy cultivation compared to the previous year.#Opium production continues to grow and has reached a ten-year high.
Read the full report here: https://t.co/OQ9ensS8Vo pic.twitter.com/vTptwukxT2
— UNODC Southeast Asia-Pacific (@UNODC_SEAP) December 3, 2025
While the area of land under poppy cultivation in Myanmar increased sizably between 2024 and 2025, the amount of opium produced per hectare of poppy has not kept pace, according to the UNODC.
The discrepancy between cultivation and production of opium was due to the country’s growing instability, the UNODC said, where “intensifying conflict and insecurity” have made it increasingly difficult for farmers to maintain their crops and produce high yields of opium.
A key factor in the surge in poppy farming in Myanmar is the growing price of opium, which has more than doubled since 2019, when 1kg of fresh opium cost $145. Today, 1kg of opium costs $329 in Myanmar, the UNODC said.
The UNODC report also notes “emerging signs” of heroin flowing from Myanmar to international markets that were previously supplied by narcotics originating in Afghanistan, warning of global demand increasing for opiates originating in the Southeast Asia region due to “heroin supply shortages from Afghanistan”. Opium is processed to manufacture the highly addictive narcotic heroin.
According to the European Union’s Drugs Agency (EUDA), some 60kg (132lbs) of heroin believed to have been manufactured in and around Myanmar was seized from commercial airline passengers travelling to the EU from Thailand in 2024 and early 2025.
“Driven by the intensifying conflict, the need to survive and the lure of rising prices”, farmers in Myanmar are being drawn to poppy cultivation, UNODC’s Schantz said.
“The increase we have seen in the past year will have significant implications for Myanmar’s future.”
“What happens in the country will shape drug markets in the region and far beyond, and requires urgent action,” she added.
