InternationalUN: 316 million take drugs - cocaine market growing rapidly
SDA
26.6.2025 - 08:22
ARCHIVE - Part of a seized cocaine find in the port of Hamburg. Photo: Marcus Brandt/dpa/Archive image
Keystone
According to a UN report, the number of drug users worldwide has risen to 316 million people. These latest available data refer to the year 2023, as the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna announced in its latest World Drug Report.
Keystone-SDA
26.06.2025, 08:22
26.06.2025, 09:20
SDA
The number of people taking drugs other than alcohol or tobacco increased by 28% within a decade. Consumption is therefore growing faster than the global population, explained UNODC chief Ghada Waly on the International Day against Drug Abuse.
Cocaine production at record level
Of all drugs, the market for cocaine is growing the fastest, according to the annual report. Illegal cocaine production rose by more than a third year-on-year to a record 3,708 tons in 2023. The number of consumers rose from 17 million to 25 million between 2013 and 2023.
According to the UN experts, the cocaine boom is not only leading to more drug-related deaths, but also to more violence between rival criminal organizations involved in drug smuggling. This can also be observed in Western and Central Europe, they said. In these two regions, more cocaine has been seized overall than in North America for several years now.