HIV prevalence remains high among people who inject drugs, with significant disparities by sex and region.People who inject drugs face a relatively much higher risk of HIV infection – around 14 times that of the global population aged 15-64 – with particularly elevated risks for women and young…
Hepatitis remains a major health burden among people who inject drugs.Injecting drug use remains a major contributor to the global hepatitis C epidemic, with nearly half (48 per cent) of people who inject drugs – around 7 million – living with hepatitis C in 2024.The highest prevalence of hepatitis…
Polydrug use is common among people in drug treatment, with patterns varying by region.According to the limited data available on people in drug treatment, between 40 and 50 per cent of persons in drug-related treatment are polydrug users, with lower levels in Asia (22 per cent) and almost no…
Polydrug use poses significant risks and is more common among people with drug use disorders.No consensus definition of polydrug use currently exists but it can be generally understood as taking two or more drugs together or in sequence (intentionally or unintentionally), with both forms increasing…
The limited data available suggest that most overdose deaths involve multiple substances.Toxicological findings from 22 countries show that a median of 67 per cent of overdose deaths involve more than one substance.In 17 countries with available data, opioids and sedatives/tranquilizers are most…
Cannabis, ATS and opioids account for the highest numbers of people in drug-related treatment globally, with variation between regions and countries.In most reporting countries, cannabis or opioids are the most common primary drug among those in treatment. However, in the Caribbean, South America…
The use of cannabis and stimulant drugs continues to increaseGlobally, the use of cannabis and stimulant drugs such as amphetamines, cocaine and "ecstasy" increased in 2024, while the use of opioids remained largely stable.
Cannabis continues to be the most widely produced, trafficked and consumed drug worldwide in 2024. As in previous years, seizures of cannabis herb exceeded those of cannabis resin.
The global cocaine market continues to expand.
Progress on strengthening the prevention and treatment of substance abuse – as formulated in SDG target 3.5 – remains limited.Coverage of treatment interventions for substance use disorders remains low globally, with new estimates for this indicator suggesting that, at the minimum, 8.2 per cent of…
Trend data on seizures suggest that the trafficking in (and misuse of) pharmaceutical opioids increased strongly over the last decade, reaching record levels in 2024.The largest volumes of pharmaceutical opioids were seized in Africa (60 per cent – mostly in West and Central Africa) and Asia (33…
While remaining at low levels in recent years, seizures of plant-based NPS are increasingly dominated by kratom, followed by khat.In contrast to the upward trend in seizures of synthetic NPS, seizures of plants-based drugs fluctuated while remaining at low levels over the 2021-2024 period. Overall…
