VIENNA, Austria – January 2021: New psychoactive substances (NPS) remain a global phenomenon with 126 countries and territories from all regions of the world having reported one or more NPS to the UNODC Early Warning Advisory (EWA) on NPS. Governments, forensic laboratories and partner organisations worldwide have identified and reported a total of 1,047 substances up to December 2020 to the UNODC EWA on NPS.

The global NPS market continues to be characterized by the emergence of large numbers of new substances belonging to diverse chemical groups. Until 2015, the number of different NPS reported each year increased year on year, but has since then shown signs of stabilization, albeit at a high level (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: New psychoactive substances reported to UNODC each year, by substance group, 2009-2019

Source: UNODC Early warning advisory on new psychoactive substances, 2020.

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