Graphic shows annual opium production and breakdown of 2018 figures.
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NARCOTICS

Global opium production

By Duncan Mil

August 1, 2019 - Global opium production has followed a long-term upward trend over the past two decades, although it fell in 2018 by 25 per cent to 7,790 tons compared with the previous year.

The three central opium-producing countries (Afghanistan, Mexico and Myanmar) are estimated to have been responsible for roughly 96 per cent of the estimated global total opium production in 2018, with Afghanistan alone accounting for 82 per cent of that total.

The global decline in opium production in 2018 was mainly the result of a poor opium harvest in Afghanistan, following a 20 per cent decrease in the size of the area under cultivation due to drought.

Opium production in Myanmar also declined slightly, from 550 tons in 2017 to 520 tons in 2018. Myanmar is still the world's second-biggest producer, after Afghanistan, and it remains the primary supplier of opium and heroin in East and Southeast Asia, as well as Australia.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 01/08/2019; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Associated Press
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