The global cocaine market continues expanding.
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…
Seizures of synthetic NPS have trended upwards since 2018 – though they still remain below the peak reported in 2012.The number of countries reporting seizures of synthetic NPS rose from, on average, just 5 over the period 2000-2004 to 80 over the period 2010-2014, before peaking over the period…
Responses to drug use vary widely across countries; drug trafficking usually results in longer sentences.Responses to the non-medical use of drugs range from no penalty to a custodial sentence. The offence rarely carries a custodial sentence among reporting countries in the Americas, while…
Socio-economic profiles of people in drug-related treatment vary between regions, although this likely also partly reflects broader regional socio-economic differences.Based on data from 56 countries, employment status varies by region and subregion: in Asia, people in treatment are more likely to…
Stimulant drug use varies across countries and regionsAmphetamines are the most commonly used stimulant drug globally, followed by cocaine and "ecstasy"-type substances. Men show higher use across all stimulant drugs, though the ratio of men to women is lower for "ecstasy"-type substances.Cocaine…
Synthetic drug markets vary widely, with different substances dominating across countries and regionsThe most commonly used synthetic drugs differ by region: non-medical use of tramadol dominates West and Central Africa and methamphetamine is most prevalent in East and South-East Asia.New…
Men account for the vast majority of drug offences, though some gender differences exist in outcomes.Globally, about 9 out of 10 people in contact with the criminal justice system for criminalized drug offences were men in 2024. For both drug trafficking and possession for personal use, the share…
Fentanyls continue to account for the largest share of harm from the non-medical use of NPS synthetic opioids, in particular in North America, but the arrival on the market of nitazenes and orphines , which are often more potent than fentanyls, has led to a number of acute emergencies and fatal…
The weight of cocaine seizures increased by 70 per cent between 2020 and 2024, reflecting an ongoing expansion of both the supply and demand for cocaine at the global level.
Seizures of opiates, expressed in heroin equivalents, fell by 65 per…
