Pakistan surpasses Afghanistan as leading opium producer, triggering security concerns

Pakistan has overtaken Afghanistan as the world’s largest source of opium, a development that experts warn could inject millions of dollars into terrorist networks and reshape the region’s security landscape, according to a report by The Telegraph.

The report highlights that large-scale, open poppy cultivation is now more widespread in Pakistan than in Afghanistan, raising alarm among regional and international observers.

David Mansfield, a leading authority on drug trafficking, underscored the trend: “Many of the poppy fields in Pakistan are larger than five hectares and located near populated areas. By 2025, Afghanistan’s opium output is likely to be significantly lower than Pakistan’s, and the profits from Pakistan’s poppy trade are likely to fall into the hands of terrorist groups — posing a serious threat to regional stability.”

For decades, Afghanistan held the title of the world’s top opium producer. That dominance ended after the Islamic Emirate returned to power in 2021 and imposed a sweeping ban on the cultivation, production, and trafficking of narcotics.

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Emirate declared the prohibition nationwide, leading to what observers have described as an unprecedented collapse in Afghanistan’s drug production.

Afghan officials insist that no individual or group is permitted to grow, produce, or traffic narcotics, and international monitors have backed this claim.

In 2024, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported a 95 percent drop in opium cultivation in Afghanistan — one of the most dramatic reductions in modern history.

With the shift of the opium trade across the border, security analysts now warn that Pakistan’s expanding drug economy could bolster extremist elements and destabilize not only the country itself but the wider region.