61% of people ...

in treatment for drug use in Asia
cited amphetamine-type stimulants
as their primary drug in 2024.

20% of people ...

in treatment for drug use disorder in the Near and Middle East, South and South-West Asia were under 25 years of age

629,000 people ...

who inject drugs in Asia are living with HIV

Key issues

The shortage in heroin supply from Afghanistan could potentially lead to the drug being replaced by more harmful substances, such as some synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, nitazenes and orphine analogues, which could lead to an increase in overdose deaths in different regions.

Asia accounts for more than one third of the global number of people who inject drugs – 5.3 million in 2024. The total number of people who inject drugs living with HIV in Asia (629,000) accounts for 40 per cent of the global estimate.

Drug by drug

“Captagon”, mainly manufactured in the Syrian Arab Republic and Lebanon in recent years, remains one of the drugs of major concern in the Near and Middle East. The long-term impact of the political changes in the Syrian Arab Republic and the resulting dismantling of major laboratories there on the global “captagon” market remains to be seen, although large seizures in the Syrian Arab Republic, Lebanon and some other countries in the region in 2025 suggest that trafficking is ongoing, probably as a result of the release of existing stocks.

$5-7

Price of a captagon tablet in Lebanon, up from $2-3 previously

Use of cocaine generally remains at low levels in Asia.
Nevertheless, several countries, such as China, India and Viet Nam, registered record or historically high levels of seizures in 2023 or 2024, pointing to a strong potential for expansion of the market in the region.

.5%

of people in treatment for drug use in Asia who cited cocaine as their primary drug in 2024, the lowest among the drugs reported

Myanmar continues to be the predominant source country for methamphetamine market in East and South-East Asia. Demand in the region has also attracted suppliers from North America, West and Southern Africa, and South-West Asia. The decreasing price of the drug in crystal form confirms the increased availability.
Beginning around 2019, South-West Asia emerged as a major source region for methamphetamine, reportedly from Afghanistan in particular. The possibility of producing methamphetamine more covertly than illicitly cultivating opium may have hindered the implementation of the drug ban of April 2022 in Afghanistan, which does not seem to have had a strong effect on methamphetamine production, in contrast to the large reduction observed for opium.   
Although "captagon" prevails in the Near and Middle East, the use of methamphetamine is increasing in the subregion.

13%

Growth rate of global methamphetamine seizures, an increase driven by quantities seized in Asia (16%)  

Over half the estimated number of people who use opioids globally are in Asia (1.2 per cent of the population).
Assuming pre-ban levels of consumption of Afghan opiates, best estimates suggest that stocks of opium in Afghanistan could last until the end of 2026.
Some poppy cultivation appears to have been displaced to countries around Afghanistan.
So far, illicit poppy cultivation and opium production in other countries regularly monitored by UNODC (Myanmar, Laos, and Mexico) do not indicate any substantial increase in cultivation to offset declining outputs from Afghanistan.
Although illicit production of opium in Myanmar has increased in recent years from about 420 tons in 2021 to over 1000 in 2025, now making it the largest global producer of illicit opium, there is no evidence that this is largely in response to declines in Afghanistan. Instead, the ongoing internal conflict, which reignited in 2021, is having a more direct impact on illegal drug production in that country, shaping ongoing trends in illicit cultivation and manufacture of synthetic drugs.
The non-medical use of tramadol and its trafficking has also extended to South-West Asia, the Near and Middle East and Central Asia and Transcaucasia.

1000+

Number of tons of illicitly produced opium in Myanmar in 2025, up from 420 tons in 2021.

United Nations

Office on Drugs and Crime

WORLD DRUG REPORT 2026

by region

ASIA

Asia is the region with the largest number of people who use drugs (105 million, tied with the Americas), but a prevalence rate of 3.3 per cent, which is the lowest of among all regions.

Below, find a non-exhaustive list of findings pertaining to Asia from the World Drug Report.
For a more comprehensive snapshot of drug demand, supply and key issues in the region, go to the World Drug Report here.

Key statistics

61% of people ...

20% of people ...

629,000 people ...

Key issues

Drug by drug

Captagon

$5-7

Cocaine

.5%

Methamphetamine

13%

Opioids

1000+

Explore other regions

AFRICA

AMERICAS

ASIA

EUROPE

OCEANIA

Curious about a term you don’t know?

Find our World Drug Report Key Terms to Know here.

Read the full
World Drug Report 2026.

United Nations

Office on Drugs and Crime

WORLD DRUG REPORT 2026

by region

ASIA

Asia is the region with the largest number of people who use drugs (105 million, tied with the Americas), but a prevalence rate of 3.3 per cent, which is the lowest of among all regions.

Below, find a non-exhaustive list of findings pertaining to Asia from the World Drug Report.For a more comprehensive snapshot of drug demand, supply and key issues in the region, go to the World Drug Report here.

Key statistics

61% of people ...

20% of people ...

629,000 people ...

Key issues

Drug by drug

Captagon

$5-7

Cocaine

.5%

Methamphetamine

13%

Opioids

1000+

Explore other regions

AFRICA

AMERICAS

ASIA

EUROPE

OCEANIA

Curious about a term you don’t know?

Find our World Drug Report Key Terms to Know here.

Read the full World Drug Report 2026.

Asia is the region with the largest number of people who use drugs (105 million, tied with the Americas), but a prevalence rate of 3.3 per cent, which is the lowest of among all regions.

Below, find a non-exhaustive list of findings pertaining to Asia from the World Drug Report.
For a more comprehensive snapshot of drug demand, supply and key issues in the region, go to the World Drug Report here.

Read the full
World Drug Report 2026.