Darknet

UK a hub for illicit drug sales

Darknet. Sounds scary, and it kind of is. While this area of the web is also used by those conscious of the privacy rights of ordinary citizens and people such as whistleblowers, the darknet also harbors the seedier and sometimes outright illegal elements of society.

A recent study by RAND Europe revealed the extent to which illegal drugs are peddled online on the so-called darknet. While the United States is perhaps unsurprisingly at the top of this particular list, with 890 identified vendors, the United Kingdom is in second place by a considerable margin to its European counterparts. With 338 vendors and a monthly turnover of approximately 2.3 million dollars, the UK would seem to be a hub for the online trade of illicit drugs.

Description

This chart shows where the most online vendors of illegal drugs are based and what their monthly revenue is.

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Revenues from drug sales in the global online black market (darknet) between 2018 and 2022, by type of substance (in millions of U.S. dollars)
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Ranking of online darknet drug market vendors between 2011 and 2022, by revenue (in millions of U.S. dollars)
Share of consumers who have seen online advertising for selected types of illegal goods or services in the United Kingdom (UK) as of April 2024
Top online stores in the pharmacy segment in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2025, by e-commerce net sales (in million U.S. dollar)
Illegal digital music consumption in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2012-2022
Online spaces adults in the United Kingdom (UK) encountered online ads facilitating perceived illegal activity as of April 2024

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