Source data for EU Drug Market: Heroin and other opioids — In-depth analysis

This data bundle contains all data tables and source data used in graphics in the publication: EU Drug Market: Heroin and other opioids — In-depth analysis

Data tables below are grouped by section.

Section: EU Drug Market: Heroin and other opioids — Production of opioids

Estimated opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, 2013-2023
Year 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Hectares 209000 224000 183000 201000 328000 263000 163000 224000 177000 233000 10800
Estimated opium production in Afghanistan, 2013-2023
Year Tonnes
2013 5500
2014 6400
2015 3300
2016 4800
2017 9000
2018 6400
2019 6400
2020 6300
2021 6800
2022 6200
2023 333
Opium, morphine and heroin seizures in Afghanistan, 2017-2021
Year Heroin (tonnes) Morphine (tonnes) Opium (tonnes)
2017 2.3 63.3 7.31
2018 5.1 18 27
2019 4 17.6 24
2020 3.1 0.1 6.8
2021 0.9 0.2 5.4
Opium, morphine and heroin seizures in Pakistan, 2017-2021
Year Heroin (tonnes) Morphine (tonnes) Opium (tonnes)
2017 24.5 7.3 40
2018 5.7 4 19
2019 8 6.3 30
2020 28 17 47
2021 9.6 10.1 35.6
Opium, morphine and heroin seizures in Iran, 2017-2021
Year Heroin (tonnes) Morphine (tonnes) Opium (tonnes)
2017 23.8 15.1 630.6
2018 25 21 644
2019 17 18.2 656
2020 31 27 916
2021 25.5 36.6 834.9
Opium, morphine and heroin seizures in Türkiye, 2017-2021
Year Heroin (tonnes) Morphine (tonnes) Opium (tonnes)
2017 17.8 0 0.934
2018 19 0.4 0.7
2019 20 0 1.3
2020 14 0 0.8
2021 22.2 0 0.9
Acetic anhydride: quantity seized and quantity in stopped shipments, EU, 2018-2021
Year 2018 2019 2020 2021
Quantity seized 15667 20038 5109 5731
Quantity in stopped shipments 8888 6977 0 0
Acetic anhydride: number of seizures and number of stopped shipments, EU, 2018-2021
Year 2018 2019 2020 2021
Number of seizures 12 9 7 4
Number of stopped shipments 8 11 1 0

Section: EU Drug Market: Heroin and other opioids — Trafficking and supply

Examples of large maritime heroin seizures in the EU, 2019-2022
Date  Country Port of seizure Weight (kilograms) Route Concealment Source

August 2022

Germany

Hamburg

700

Iran-Germany

  

BKA (2022)

May 2022

Netherlands

Rotterdam 

2600 

Sierra Leone-Morocco-Netherlands

Soap

The Netherlands, Openbaar Ministerie (2022)

October 2021

Croatia

Ploce

220

Iraq-Türkiye -Croatia-Belgium (controlled delivery)

Lead ingots

Scaturro and Kemp (2022)

June 2021

Slovenia

Koper

200

Iran-Slovenia

  

Scaturro and Kemp (2022)

May 2021

Bulgaria

Varna-West 

530 

Iran-UAE-Bulgaria-Netherlands (controlled delivery)

Marble tiles

National Customs Agency of the Republic of Bulgaria (communication to the EMCDDA)

May 2021

Romania

Constanta 

1452

Iran-UAE-Romania-Belgium-Netherlands (controlled delivery)

Marble tiles

Europol (2021b)

February 2021

Bulgaria

Varna-West 

401 

Iran-UAE-Bulgaria-Belgium (controlled delivery)

Bitumen rolls

National Customs Agency of the Republic of Bulgaria (2021a)

February 2021

Netherlands

Rotterdam 

1500

Pakistan-Netherlands

Himalayan salt

Openbaar Ministerie (2021b) 

December 2019

Netherlands

Rotterdam

439

Pakistan-Netherlands

Talc stone

Dutch police communication to Europol (2020)

October 2019

Slovenia

Koper

730

UAE-Egypt-Slovenia

Polyethylene foil

Republic of Slovenia Ministry of the Interior (2019)
Seizures of methadone in the EU, 2018-2021
Year Number of seizures (number of reporting countries) Quantity in kilograms (number of reporting countries) Quantity in litres (number of reporting countries) Quantity in tablets (number of reporting countries) Quantity in patches (number of reporting countries)

2018

1 018 (17)

130.9 (9)

26.2 (7)

7 527 (8)

-

2019

1 001 (16)

18.1 (9)

42.8 (10)

6 374 (10)

-

2020

1 068 (18)

59.7 (11)

20.9 (10)

5 849 (10)

-

2021

888 (19)

251.7 (12)

29.9 (11)

6 802 (7)

-
Seizures of buprenorphine in the EU, 2018-2021
Year Number of seizures (number of reporting countries) Quantity in kilograms (number of reporting countries) Quantity in litres (number of reporting countries) Quantity in tablets (number of reporting countries) Quantity in patches (number of reporting countries)

2018

1 962 (15)

0.2 (5)

-

96 340 (13)

-

2019

2 153 (15)

0.3 (5)

-

119 864 (12)

-

2020

2 354 (16)

0.3 (11)

-

192 532 (11)

-

2021

1 710 (15)

5.0 (5)

-

110 787 (12)

-
Seizures of tramadol in the EU, 2018-2021
Year Number of seizures (number of reporting countries) Quantity in kilograms (number of reporting countries) Quantity in litres (number of reporting countries) Quantity in tablets (number of reporting countries) Quantity in patches (number of reporting countries)

2018

5 214 (12)

0.7 (4)

-

1 142 347 (9)

-

2019

4 422 (12)

0.05 (2)

-

1 577 309 (9)

-

2020

4 305 (12)

0.3 (4)

-

1 051 969 (10)

-

2021

4 515 (9)

0.3 (4)

-

2 228 466 (7)

-
Seizures of oxycodone in the EU, 2018-2021
Year Number of seizures (number of reporting countries) Quantity in kilograms (number of reporting countries) Quantity in litres (number of reporting countries) Quantity in tablets (number of reporting countries) Quantity in patches (number of reporting countries)

2018

645 (8)

0.02 (3)

-

15 216 (7)

-

2019

677 (9)

0.02 (1)

-

23 870 (10)

-

2020

866 (10)

0.8 (4)

-

43 654 (9)

-

2021

814 (9)

0.1 (3)

-

66 721 (8)

-
Seizures of fentanyl derivatives in the EU, 2018-2021
Year Number of seizures (number of reporting countries) Quantity in kilograms (number of reporting countries) Quantity in litres (number of reporting countries) Quantity in tablets (number of reporting countries) Quantity in patches (number of reporting countries)

2018

853 (11)

6.2 (11)

-

19 795 (5)

587 (2)

2019

394 (13)

15.1 (9)

-

320 (4)

363 (3)

2020

387 (14)

11.1 (11)

-

91 (5)

341 (3)

2021

174 (11)

5.5 (8)

-

5 444 (5)

168 (4)
Number of heroin seizures in the EU, Türkiye and Norway, 2011-2021
Number of seizures 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
EU, Türkiye and Norway 35753 32266 33162 33897 41629 32659 36210 41812 36118 34337 34143
EU27 31133 26849 25874 25595 28180 23482 22650 22733 19170 18499 18709
Quantity of heroin seized in the EU, Türkiye and Norway, 2011-2021
Quantity seized (tonnes) 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
EU, Türkiye and Norway 11.524 17.533 17.548 20.127 12.149 9.071 22.081 27.196 28.842 17.75 31.756
EU27 4.217 4.188 4.013 7.327 3.793 3.472 4.597 9.335 8.589 4.35 9.522
Non-EU countries identified as the 'origin' or 'transit' of heroin seized in EU, 2018-2021
Non-EU country Combined score
Ethiopia 6
Qatar 4
Türkiye 3
Uganda 3
Afghanistan 2
Iran 2
Pakistan 2
Switzerland 2
Democratic Republic of Congo 2
South Africa 2
Albania 1
Benin 1
Rwanda 1
Zimbabwe 1
Oman 1
Sudan Republic 1
United Arab Emirates 1
Zambia 1
Burundi 1
Kenya 1
Mozambique 1
Tanzania 1
Bahrain 1
Togo 1
United Kingdom 1
Armenia 1
China 1
Ghana 1
India 1
Malawi 1
Senegal 1
Comparison of markups for heroin at different EU wholesale markets, 2021
Country Percentage
Spain 1072
Croatia 802
Italy 658
Romania 633
Netherlands 362
EU countries identified as the 'origin' or 'transit' of heroin seized in EU, 2018-2021
EU country Combined score
Netherlands 10
France 5
Bulgaria 4
Germany 4
Belgium 3
Spain 2
Austria 2
Greece 1
Poland 1
Portugal 1
Romania 1
Luxembourg 1
Slovenia 1
Number and types of new synthetic opioids notified to the EU Early Warning System for the first time, 2009-2023
Year Other opioids Fentanyl derivatives Benzimidazoles
2009 1 0 0
2010 0 0 0
2011 0 0 0
2012 1 2 0
2013 2 2 0
2014 1 3 0
2015 1 3 0
2016 1 8 0
2017 3 10 0
2018 5 6 0
2019 5 2 1
2020 4 1 5
2021 3 0 3
2022 0 0 1
2023 0 1 6
Number of seizures of fentanyl derivatives in 10 EU Member States, 2018-2021
Country 2018 2019 2020 2021
Estonia 198 70 20 16
Latvia 154 77 145 105
Sweden 80 52 37 23
Austria 4 5 24 11
Other* 17 31 24 18
Number of buprenorphine seizures in 11 EU Member States, 2018-2021
Country 2018 2019 2020 2021
Sweden 908 1027 1190 839
Finland 328 396 324 231
Greece 301 292 311 133
Latvia 205 209 253 297
Austria 108 111 128 94
Other* 100 97 126 102
Number of methadone seizures in 14 EU Member States, 2018-2021
Country 2018 2019 2020 2021
Spain 274 281 281 247
Italy 147 167 192 142
Lithuania 129 87 55 22
Sweden 119 147 149 114
Romania 87 84 92 93
Greece 70 74 85 77
Other* 130 138 148 115

Section: EU Drug Market: Heroin and other opioids — Key market data: heroin prices, purities and offences

Year of sample submission
Submitting EU Member State

Number of samples

Heroin form

Average purity (%)

 Adulteration
2019 Belgium 2 Base 61

None identified
2019 Greece 1 Base 54

Acetaminophen
2021 Austria 4 Base 45

None reported
2021 Austria 2 Hydrochloride 47

None reported
2021 Bulgaria 2 Base 50

None identified
2021 Greece 2 Hydrochloride 63

None identified
Sources: DEA 2020, 2022a.
Wholesale average heroin price in eight EU countries, 2017-2021
Year 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
EUR/kg 29212.57444 26540.13222 24806.35 24855.72111 24099.27889
Indexed trends in heroin retail price and purity, EU, 2011-2021
  2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Price 100 102 97 92 95 96 94 92 85 90 84
Purity 100 101 120 147 145 137 137 142 154 144 138
Heroin-related offences in the EU, 2011-2021
Type of offence Heroin use-related offences Heroin supply-related offences Other heroin-related offences
2011 38330 16530 7940
2012 31490 14200 4770
2013 29460 12030 5800
2014 30170 12570 5400
2015 31460 11680 5140
2016 29670 11650 6080
2017 23070 11070 270
2018 23590 10350 520
2019 22710 10520 110
2020 22020 10340 120
2021 23170 9640 110

Section: EU Drug Market: Heroin and other opioids — Retail markets

Proportion of opioid listings on major darknet markets by EU Member State, 2021
Country Proportion (%)
Netherlands 48
Germany 32
France 10
Europe 5
Poland 2
Belgium 1
Other* 3
EU Drug Market: Heroin and other opioids — In-depth analysis
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