Availability of internationally controlled pharmaceutical opioids for medical use has stabilized in recent years.Availability of pharmaceutical opioids for medical use more than doubled between 1998 and 2024 – driven by a strong increase until 2013, followed by a decline and partial recovery in…
There remains a large discrepancy between the Global North and the Global South in the availability of internationally controlled pharmaceutical opioids for medical use - even though the gap is declining.Between 2015 and 2024, the per capita availability of pharmaceutical opioids for medical use in…
Heroin and morphine seizures remain concentrated in Asia.In line with the concentration of opium production in Asia, almost two thirds (64 per cent) of global heroin and morphine seizures occurred in Asia in 2024, notably in South-Western Asia and, to a lesser extent, in East and South-East Asia.In…
Seizures of key pharmaceutical opioids show distinct regional patterns by substance.While fentanyl seizures remain overwhelmingly concentrated in North America (> 99 per cent), other pharmaceutical opioids dominate seizures in different regions: codeine in West and Central Africa and South Asia…
Global opiate use has remained broadly stable, with slight declines in the prevalence of use.The number of people using opiates worldwide has remained stable over the last five years, while the annual prevalence of use declined slightly from 0.61 per cent in 2020 to 0.57 per cent in 2023 and 2024.…
Global opioid use has remained broadly stable, with strong regional differences in prevalence of use.The number of people who use opioids worldwide has remained relatively stable in the last five years, with the estimate for 2024 only slightly higher than the level in 2019.Prevalence of past-year…
Global illicit opium production remained more than 70 per cent below 2022 levels in 2025Global illicit opium production remained at lower levels in 2025 at 2,100 tons, more than 70 per cent below 2022 (mainly due to Afghanistan’s opium ban) and almost 80 per cent below its 2017 peak.A doubling of…
Myanmar is now the world’s largest opium producer, followed by Afghanistan, Mexico and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.In Myanmar, opium production continues to be concentrated in the eastern parts of the country, notably in Shan State and in Kachin. This pattern has not changed over the last…
Seven substances dominate the global availability of opioids under international control for medical consumption.Expressed in S-DDDs (defined daily doses for statistical purposes), methadone, followed by hydrocodone, fentanyl, buprenorphine, oxycodone, codeine (including preparations) and morphine…
The type of opioid that is most used non-medically varies across regions and countries.With the highest population globally, Asia is also the region with the highest number of people who use opioids.The type of opioid used differs across regions, with opiates such as heroin dominating in Asia and…
The non-medical use and trafficking of tramadol remain most concentrated in North Africa, West and Central Africa, and the Near and Middle East and South-West Asia, though there remains significant localized non-medical use in other regions.There remains a significant data gap on tramadol use and…
The health harms posed by the non-medical use of opioids remains high in North America, but have started to decline in late 2023 and in 2024.Opioid overdose deaths reached historical highs in the United States of America and Canada between 2021 and 2023 but have since started to decline, returning…
