The UN reports that after declining for seven years, opium production in Myanmar suddenly increased. In 2022, it reached almost 795 metric tons, more than double the production in 2021, the year of the military coup, which was 423 metric tons.

According to the UN, this is caused by a combination of increased opium resin prices around the world, economic hardship, and security concerns. A bloody civil war that is still raging in much of Myanmar began as a result of the coup.

"Economic, security, and governance disruptions that followed the military takeover of February 2021 have converged," said Jeremy Douglas, the regional representative for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. "Farmers in remote, frequently conflict-prone areas in northern Shan and border states have had little choice but to move back to opium" (UNODC).

The Russia-Ukraine war, ongoing political unrest, and skyrocketing inflation, according to its report, which was released on Thursday, will all have an impact on Myanmar's economy in 2022 and will give farmers "strong incentives" to start or increase their opium poppy cultivation.

After Afghanistan, Myanmar is the second-largest opium producer in the world. The majority of the heroin sold around the world comes from these two nations. According to UN estimates, Myanmar's opium industry is worth up to $2 billion (£1.6 billion), and the value of the regional heroin trade is around $10 billion.

However, crop replacement initiatives and improving economic prospects in Myanmar over the past ten years have resulted in a steady decline in opium poppy cultivation.

However, the UN's yearly opium survey reveals that production in Myanmar has increased once again. The level of opium production in 2022 was the highest since 870 metric tons were produced in 2013.

The UN has also kept track of even more significant increases in the production of synthetic drugs since the coup. In recent years, this has taken the place of opium as the main means of funding armed organizations operating in Myanmar's war-torn border regions.

Opium is an attractive cash crop in a nation where the post-coup economic crisis has dried up many alternative sources of employment because it requires a lot more labor than synthetic drugs.

The increase in opium farmers' earnings to $280/kg last year is evidence of the drug's popularity as a crop and commodity, as well as the high level of demand. Many narcotics, including heroin, morphine, and codeine, are primarily sourced from it.

According to the report, opium poppy cultivation areas will increase by a third, to 40,100 hectares, in 2022. The report also highlighted increasingly advanced farming techniques. Additionally, average opium yields have reached their highest level since the UNODC began keeping track of the statistic in 2002.

The area known as the "Golden Triangle," where the borders of Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos converge, has historically been a significant opium and heroin production center.

The neighbors of Myanmar should evaluate the situation and take appropriate action, according to Mr. Douglas: "They will need to consider some difficult options."

He continued by saying that these solutions must take into consideration the difficulties that people in traditional opium-growing regions face, such as conflict and isolation.

According to Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC's country manager for Myanmar, "opium cultivation is ultimately about economics, and it cannot be resolved by destroying crops, which only increases vulnerabilities."

"It is likely that opium cultivation and production will continue to expand without alternatives and economic stability," he continued.