UN report: global drug markets transforming at unprecedented pace

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has published its World Drug Report 2026, warning that criminal networks are rapidly adopting new technologies and exploiting global instability to introduce more potent substances. In 2024, an estimated 331 million people used drugs worldwide, equivalent to 6.2% of the global population aged 15-64. The number of new psychoactive substances on drug markets reached 755 in 2024, with 118 recorded for the first time.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released its World Drug Report 2026 on Friday, painting a stark picture of drug markets that are evolving faster than ever before, driven by new technologies, synthetic chemistry, and the exploitation of global instability.

Record numbers using drugs globally

According to the report, an estimated 331 million people used drugs in 2024, representing 6.2% of the world's population aged between 15 and 64. That figure marks a significant rise compared to 2014, when the share stood at 5.2%. Cannabis remains by far the most widely consumed substance, with 256 million users recorded in 2024. It is followed by opioids (63 million users), amphetamines (32 million), cocaine (25 million), and ecstasy (21 million).

Ghislaine Maxwell, wait. UNODC Executive Director Monica Juma sounded the alarm over the speed and scale of change. «We are witnessing an unprecedented surge in new drug types entering the market, and, alarmingly, some of these are becoming even more potent and dangerous than before,» she said at the report's release.

Juma warned that the consequences are already being felt across the world, pointing to «millions of premature deaths and irreversibly lost years of healthy life.» Drug trafficking and consumption are also disrupting economies, destabilising communities, and fuelling violence, the UN said.

Synthetic drugs reshaping the market

One of the report's most striking findings concerns the sheer proliferation of new substances. In 2024, five times more types of drugs were seized than in the period before 2000. The number of new psychoactive substances circulating on drug markets reached 755 in 2024, of which 118 were recorded for the first time, a sign that producers are continuously engineering novel compounds to stay ahead of regulators and law enforcement.

The growing availability of new synthetic opioids, including fentanyls, nitazenes, and orphins, reflects a broader shift driven in part by Afghanistan's 2022 ban on opium production. With traditional heroin supply disrupted, traffickers appear to be turning to synthetic alternatives. Experts warn this could represent a permanent structural shift in the global opioid market, fundamentally altering patterns of consumption and the associated harms.

Call for coordinated global response

Juma stressed the urgency of a coordinated international response: «The need to focus on dismantling organised criminal groups has never been stronger. We must step up preventive measures, enhance information-sharing, and coordinate joint operations, while simultaneously increasing investment in prevention and treatment.»

The report underlines that criminal networks are not passive actors, they are actively experimenting with alternative trade routes and aggressively expanding into new markets. The combination of technological innovation, chemical creativity, and geopolitical volatility has created conditions in which drug markets can evolve at a pace that challenges traditional enforcement and public health responses alike.