The number of cocaine users increased to approximately 22 million people worldwide in 2021.
The cocaine market have started to grow sharply all over the world after the increase in the smuggling of methamphetamine, says the UN’s annual World Drug report.
According to it, the methamphetamine smuggling networks have also expanded beyond the already established drug market areas, for example in Afghanistan. The report was reported by Reuters.
A record number of coca bushes were cultivated in 2021, the report says. In the same year, the total production of cocaine was also higher than ever before.
In addition, the number of cocaine users increased to approximately 22 million people worldwide in the same year. The UN estimates in its annual report that the number of users continues to grow steadily.
The report however, cocaine seizures have increased faster than production growth.
World the cocaine market is still concentrated in the United States, Central and South America, and Western and Central Europe. However, according to the UN, the market is growing rapidly, especially in Africa, Asia and Southeast Europe.
Almost 90 percent of methamphetamine seizures are made in East and Southeast Asia and North America. The smuggling of methamphetamine, on the other hand, has increased elsewhere, such as in the Middle East and West Africa, the UN states in its report.
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