Cocaine production hits historic high in Colombia in 2023

The country saw the production of this substance increase by 53% between 2022 and 2023.

In Colombia, cocaine production has exploded. It reached a new historic record in 2023, with an increase of 53% compared to the previous year, according to a report from the Colombian government and the UN drug agency (UNODC), published Friday October 18 . Cocaine hydrochloride production reached 2,664 tonnes last year.

The cultivated areas of coca, the crop on which cocaine is based, of which Colombia is the world’s leading producer, are also increasing by 10%: they now extend over 253,000 hectares. “Unlike the increase observed between 2021 and 2022, which was highly concentrated in the department of Putumayo [dans le sud-ouest du pays, frontalier de l’Equateur]growth is this time more generalized”details the report.

“Coca cultivation and cocaine production continue to be a threat to the conservation of the environment, biological and cultural biodiversity”according to the same report, as COP16, a major global forum on biodiversity, opens on Monday in Cali. This production is located 4% in national parks, 10% in indigenous reserves, 14% in forest reserves and 20% on the lands of black communities.

The most coca-cultivated areas are 98% occupied by at least one armed group. In certain towns close to production areas, the illicit cocaine economy represents more than 42% of the local economy. Armed groups involved in drug trafficking, such as the ELN (National Liberation Army), Marxist FARC dissidents or even paramilitaries “remain linked to transnational organized crime, which focuses on the production and trafficking of cocaine“, underlines the report.

These alarming figures are part of an international context of strong growth in the cocaine market, both supply and demand, underlines this document, which estimates international consumption up 20% over the past ten years. North America, Western and Central Europe and South America constitute the largest markets for cocaine consumption in terms of number of users over the past year, according to this report.