Ongoing conflict ensures Myanmar remains No. 1 in opium production
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Phyo(NP News) Dec 8
As long as armed conflicts in the country continue to undermine stability, Myanmar is likely to remain the world’s number one opium-producing nation, as farmers and profit-seekers increasingly turn to opium cultivation, according to local analyses.
A statement released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on December 3 described that Myanmar’s opium cultivation has reached its highest level in a decade. Owing to ongoing conflicts and economic hardship, many farmers have turned toward the illegal trade, resulting in a 17 percent increase in opium cultivation last year.
In its report, the UNODC stated that opium cultivation increased from 45,200 hectares in 2024 to 53,100 hectares in 2025, highlighting that Myanmar has become the world’s primary source of illicit opium cultivation at a time when production in Afghanistan is declining.
The regions with the largest increases in opium cultivation were eastern Shan State with 32 percent and Chin State with 26 percent, while southern Shan State remained the primary cultivation area with 44 percent, according to the report.
A local who recently traveled to southern Shan State told The Statesman that he saw a large number of opium fields throughout his trip in the region.
“When I returned, I traveled from Panglong to Hopong along the Kyauktan road, passing through Pa-O villages. I had seen opium fields before in Kunlong, but in that area the cultivation was everywhere. Even in the yards of houses right beside the road, they were growing it. There must be tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of acres,” he said.
He added that, with opium fields now being cultivated so extensively across Shan State as farmers and armed groups turn to it amid ongoing instability and conflict, Myanmar is likely to remain the world’s number one opium producer, according to his assessment.
“It was everywhere. In my whole life, this is the first time I’ve seen it like that. I’ve seen many opium fields in northern Shan before, but this time entire hillsides were completely covered. Colorful opium flowers—pink, purple, deep red—were blooming everywhere. Since there is no stability in Shan State, opium cultivation has become their main livelihood. And since Afghanistan and the Taliban have cracked down on opium, I think we, Myanmar, will end up becoming number one in the world,” he said.