Executive summary

The year 2008 saw some encouraging reductions in the production of cocaine and heroin. In cooperation with the affected states, UNODC conducts annual crop surveys in the countries that produce the vast bulk of these drugs. These surveys show a reduction in opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan of 19% and a reduction in coca cultivation in Colombia of 18%. Trends in other production countries are mixed, but are not large enough to offset the declines in these two major producers. Although data are not complete enough to give a precise estimate of the global reduction in opium and coca production, there can be little doubt that it did, in fact, decrease.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Good Health and Well-Being