United Nations: Drug production is still an illegal economic activity in Afghanistan

The United Nations says narcotics cultivation is still one of the biggest illegal economic activities in Afghanistan.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a statement that Afghanistan’s gross narcotics were estimated at between $ 1.8 billion and $ 2.7 billion last years.

Emphasizing that poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has been steadily increasing over the past two decades, it added that the highest poppy cultivation in 2021 was in the southwest (79%), followed by the west (10%) and the north (6%).

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) notes that the eastern and northeastern regions of Afghanistan each account for 2% of total poppy cultivation, while the southern and central regions together account for 0.8% of total poppy cultivation. Helmand is said to remain the leading province in poppy cultivation, followed by Kandahar, Farah, Uruzgan, Badghis, Faryab, Badakhshan, Nimroz and Balkh.

According to the report, 23 provinces in Afghanistan are currently affected by poppy cultivation and 11 provinces are free of poppy cultivation.