Every year on the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (June 26), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) publishes the World Drug Report.
A global reference on drug markets, trends and policy developments, the World Drug Report offers a wealth of data and analysis and, in 2026, comprises several elements tailored to different audiences. The web-based Drug market patterns and trends contains the latest analysis of global, regional and subregional estimates of and trends in drug demand and supply in a user-friendly, interactive format supported by graphs, infographics and maps. Highlights provides a series of short topical analyses of key developments and issues that characterize the current world drug problem, while Special points of interest offers a framework for the main takeaways that can be drawn from those developments.
As well as providing a comprehensive overview of global drug trends and key issues, the World Drug Report 2026 features, in its thematic chapter, a focused analysis of the Impact of drug use on safety and security.
Key findings of the World Drug Report 2026 are:
- Only one in 12 people with drug use disorders are in treatment.
- Just one in 23 women with drug use disorders are in treatment compared with one in nine men.
- Drug traffickers continue to innovate, raising the number of new psychoactive substances on the global market to 755 in 2024, out of which 118 were identified for the first time.
- An estimated 5.9 million people worldwide were in formal contact with the criminal justice system for criminal drug offences in 2024 – approximately two thirds of them for drug use or possession.
- An estimated 3.7 million people were prosecuted and around 2.2 million convicted for criminal drug offences that same year.
The World Drug Report 2026 is aimed not only at fostering greater international cooperation to counter the impact of the world drug problem on health, governance and security, but also at assisting Member States in anticipating and addressing threats posed by drug markets and mitigating their consequences.
Source: UNODC