Hong Kong ( CNN ) Opium production in southeast Asia 's `` Golden Triangle '' has tripled since 2006 , fueling an illicit drugs trade worth $ 16.3 billion , a new United Nations report says . Poppy cultivation in Myanmar and Laos stood at 63,800 hectares in 2014 , compared with 61,200 hectares in 2013 -- increasing for an eighth year , the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime said in its Southeast Asia Opium Survey 2014 . The region produced approximately 762 tons of opium , which was most likely made into 76 tons of heroin , it said . Myanmar accounts for the vast majority of the region 's poppy cultivation . Production is particularly entrenched in the northern Shan State , near the Chinese border , where it 's a staple part of the economy and helps fund rebel groups , the report added . `` Surveys of farmers indicate that , for many , the money made from poppy cultivation is an essential part of family income and support , '' said Yury Fedetov , the executive director of the United Nations on Drugs and Crime , said . `` Villages threatened with food insecurity and poverty need sustainable alternatives , or they will have little choice beyond growing this cash crop out of desperation , '' he added . The report said there had been an increase in heroin use in China , Laos , Singapore and Thailand in 2014 , driving demand for opium . The Golden Triangle -- a fabled area that straddles the borders of Myanmar , Laos and Thailand along the Mekong River -- was once the largest heroin-producing area in the world but eradication efforts in the late 1990s and early 2000s saw cultivation fall . But production has seen a resurgence since 2006 thanks in part to closer regional integration and better transport infrastructure boosting trade . Afghanistan is the world 's biggest cultivator of opium poppies .
Rice production in southeast Asia 's ` ` Golden Triangle '' increases for eighth time . Poppy cultivation in Thailand and Laos rose to 500 hectares in 2007 . Myanmar accounts for the vast majority of the region 's poppy cultivation .