According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports released in 2025, cocaine production in Colombia has reached historic highs. While final figures for 2024 and 2025 are still emerging, available data from 2023 indicated a significant and accelerating upward trend in production capacity.
Key statistics from 2023
Record
production: Potential cocaine production in Colombia surged by 53% from
2022 to 2023, reaching an estimated 2,664 metric tons. This marked the largest
single-year increase since the UN began monitoring in 2001.
Increased cultivation: Coca leaf cultivation grew by 10% in 2023, bringing the total area planted to 253,000 hectares. Colombia accounted for over 67% of the world's total coca crop.
Greater yield: Improvements in agricultural techniques have doubled the cocaine yield per hectare compared to a decade ago.
Contributing
factors to increased production
Advancements in farming: Coca farmers are using more productive, disease-resistant plants, and sophisticated "precision agriculture" techniques to maximize yields.
Ineffective policy shifts: The government's pivot away from forced eradication towards voluntary crop substitution programs has had limited success. In many rural areas, alternative legal crops offer significantly lower profits than coca.
Criminal gang influence: Smaller armed groups have moved into territories previously controlled by the FARC, filling the power vacuum and fueling the cocaine trade.
Lack of state presence: In remote coca-growing regions, there is often a lack of government investment and security, leaving locals dependent on the drug economy.
High
demand: Strong global demand for cocaine in the U.S., Europe, and other
markets continues to fuel production.
2025 outlook and policy responses
Escalating crisis: Colombian officials and international analysts indicate that the high production trends continued through 2024 and into 2025. Some experts predict that coca cultivation could exceed 290,000 hectares and production could reach 3,000 metric tons annually.
International tensions: Amid the surging production, the U.S. designated Colombia as noncompliant in the drug war in September 2025. This has created political friction, with Colombian President Gustavo Petro defending his alternative policies and emphasizing that the real solution lies in reducing international demand.
Renewed focus on substitution: Colombia's government has bolstered its voluntary crop substitution program, offering payments to farmers who uproot their coca plants. However, the program has been plagued by inefficiency and unfulfilled promises.
End of forced eradication: In September 2025, President Petro ended the policy of forced eradication, arguing it was ineffective and dangerous for police. This move has drawn criticism from the U.S., which advocates for more aggressive action.
Reports released in 2025 by the UN and other sources indicate that cocaine production in Colombia reached historic levels in 2023 and 2024. Cultivation of the coca plant, the raw material for cocaine, and the potential yield per hectare have both surged, making Colombia the world's leading producer. Analysts expect this trend to continue in 2025 due to a mix of factors, including weak government policies and increased global demand.
Key statistics from 2025 reports
Coca cultivation: According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), coca leaf cultivation in Colombia reached 253,000 hectares in 2023, a 10% increase from 2022.
Production increase: The UNODC also noted that Colombia's potential cocaine production increased by 53% in 2023, the largest recorded rise since monitoring began in 2001.
Record-high production: By August 2025, Charles Sturt University reported that estimates put Colombia's annual cocaine production at 2,664 metric tonnes, a new record.
Economic impact: A study cited by EL PAÍS in September 2025 concluded that cocaine trafficking in Colombia generates an average annual revenue of $15.3 billion, equivalent to 4.2% of the country's GDP.
Factors contributing to the production surge
Ineffective drug policies: President Gustavo Petro's administration has pursued a policy of negotiating with criminal organizations and encouraging voluntary crop substitution. However, these programs have largely failed to provide economically viable alternatives for poor farmers, many of whom have returned to growing coca.
Rising yields: Technological advancements, such as "precision agriculture" techniques for applying fertilizer, have increased the coca yield per hectare.
Increased demand: An increase in global demand for cocaine is a significant driver of the increased production and cultivation, according to reports released in 2025.
Shift in cultivation areas: Cultivation is increasingly concentrated in lower-lying border regions, particularly near Ecuador, for easier access to shipping ports.
Post-conflict
void: In some remote areas, the 2016 peace accord with the FARC created a
power vacuum that was filled by smaller armed groups who fuel the drug
trade.
International response
U.S. decertification: In September 2025, the U.S. decertified Colombia as a drug control partner for the first time in decades, citing the surge in coca cultivation and cocaine production.
Increased interdiction: Despite the increase in production, Colombian security forces have continued to seize large quantities of cocaine, with interdictions on pace for a record year in 2025.
Continued U.S. cooperation: Despite the decertification, the U.S. has granted a waiver to continue aid, and cooperation in drug interdiction is ongoing, as evidenced by a U.S. military strike in the Caribbean targeting Colombian traffickers in October 2025.
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Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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