Where Cocaine Is Produced and Where It’s Consumed

Although cocaine is consumed in every part of the world, its base, the coca plant, is mainly cultivated in three Latin American countries: Peru, Bolivia and Colombia. According to figures by UNODC, Colombia was responsible for almost two thirds of the total coca cultivation area in 2023 at 253,000 hectares. Peru came in second with 93,000 hectares, while Bolivia ranked third with 31,000 hectares.

When looking at the cocaine market from the users' perspective, North America had the largest estimated share of people reporting having consumed cocaine in 2023, with 6.5 million or 26 percent of total global users of the drug. Overall, the Americas made up just under half of estimated cocaine users worldwide according to the UNODC data, while in Europe and Asia, the estimated number of cocaine users stood at 6 million and 3.4 million, respectively.