The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) found that the area planted with opium poppy grew by 330 per cent, to more than 43,000 hectares, up from about 10,000 hectares in 2025.

Estimated production rose by 400 per cent, from about 300 tonnes to just under 1,500 tonnes.

Both figures remain well below levels before the ban, when some 232,000 hectares were under cultivation.

For decades, Afghanistan was the world’s biggest source of illicit opium. Before the ban, it accounted for around 80 per cent of global supply.

The Taliban seized power in August 2021. In April 2022, they outlawed poppy cultivation and all narcotics, citing religious grounds.

Hidden in cereal fields

The de facto authorities say they eradicated 22,000 hectares of poppy this year. But UNODC said many farmers appear to have adapted to evade enforcement. Some are hiding small plots within cereal fields or inside walled compounds. Others are planting and harvesting at staggered intervals to avoid detection.

“The fourfold increase in opium poppy cultivation shows the difficulty in sustaining decreases in illicit opium cultivation when poor farmers have no alternatives to feed their families,” said UNODC Executive Director Monica Juma.

She urged the de facto authorities and the international community to work together to support farming communities, by investing in livelihoods, farm infrastructure and access to markets.

Shift to the northeast

Cultivation spread to 16 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, five more than last year. Three in every four hectares were in the northeast, now firmly the country’s main growing area. Before the ban, most poppy was grown in the southwest.

Prices dipped from $570 a kilogramme last year to $500 but remain far above pre-ban levels of under $100. UNODC said large regional price differences may encourage trafficking from the northeast to the southwest.

Stockpiles running low

The survey said traffickers in the region appear to have relied on opium stockpiles to keep supplies moving since the ban.

But recent seizure data suggest those stocks are running down. The 2026 World Drug Report also found early signs that heroin supplies in Europe are falling.

With demand holding up and prices high, shrinking supplies could push cultivation in Afghanistan higher still.

“International cooperation is needed to investigate and dismantle transnational drug trafficking networks both in Afghanistan and the rest of the world,” Ms. Juma said.

UNODC said continued monitoring would show whether this year’s jump is temporary or the start of a resurgence in opium and heroin production.