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New Zealand’s wastewater testing recorded a sharp rise in methamphetamine consumption in 2024. Police estimated that 32.4 kilograms a week were consumed in July–September—more than double the average weekly amount in the previous four quarters. That estimate describes drug residues detected across monitored wastewater sites; it does not count users or establish why consumption rose.
The figures below come from 2024 and 2025 releases. They explain the documented increase and the possible factors discussed by officials and drug-policy experts, but they are not a 2026 estimate of consumption or seizures.
What the 2024 wastewater figures show
New Zealand Police’s third-quarter 2024 wastewater testing covered 59 sites, representing around 76% of the population. The estimated 32.4 kilograms consumed per week was more than twice the average weekly quantity in the preceding four quarters, and every policing district was above its own average for that comparison period.
The Ministry of Justice also described methamphetamine levels in wastewater as having doubled across the country in 2024. It put the conservative estimated social harm cost of methamphetamine at NZ$1.5 billion in 2024. That is the Ministry’s estimate of social harm, not a measure of the drug’s market value or the amount seized.
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How levels varied by period and region
The NZ Drug Foundation’s 2023/24 report, drawing on National Drug Intelligence Bureau data supplied in response to an Official Information Act request, gives these per-capita wastewater figures:
| Area or period | Reported methamphetamine measure |
|---|---|
| New Zealand, January–June 2024 | 675 mg per day per 1,000 people |
| New Zealand, July–December 2024 | 1,303 mg per day per 1,000 people |
| Northland, 2024 | 1,488 mg per day per 1,000 people; 148% higher than in 2023 |
| Southern, 2024 | 347 mg per day per 1,000 people; 116% higher than in 2023 |
These are estimates based on monitored wastewater, not counts of people. A higher detected amount could reflect more people using methamphetamine, more frequent or heavier use by existing users, or a change in the active-substance concentration of the supply. Wastewater results alone cannot separate those explanations.
Why different indicators do not tell the same story
Wastewater, border seizures and health surveys measure different things. Comparing them can provide context, but one cannot be used as a direct substitute for another.
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| Indicator | What it measures | What it cannot establish by itself |
|---|---|---|
| Wastewater testing | Estimated drug consumption across monitored catchments, inferred from residues | How many individuals used the drug, how often each person used it, or why the total changed |
| Customs and partner seizures | Drugs intercepted within the stated operation, period and reporting scope | Total supply entering or available in New Zealand; the amount seized also depends on detection and enforcement |
| Self-reported health-survey prevalence | Survey respondents’ reports of past-year use for the period covered | Real-time consumption or changes outside the survey’s period and definitions |
The 2023/24 New Zealand Health Survey recorded a small increase in past-year amphetamine use, from 1.2% to 1.3%, or about 56,000 people. The Drug Foundation notes that self-reported survey figures lagged the wastewater series during the sharpest increase in late 2024. The measures cover different periods and concepts, so the survey result does not disprove the wastewater increase.
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No single cause has been established by the figures. The explanations raised in official reporting and by people working in drug policy point to interacting pressures around supply, price, use patterns and difficult social conditions.
Organised crime has strong supply incentives
Customs’ 2025 annual report says high prices and demand for methamphetamine and cocaine make New Zealand attractive to transnational serious organised crime groups. It describes attempts to exploit ports and airports, including placing or compromising people in key supply-chain roles to bypass screening or divert goods. That account describes risks and tactics identified by Customs; it does not quantify how much drug any one tactic delivered.
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International availability and price may be related
Sarah Helm, executive director of the NZ Drug Foundation, said, “There’s much more methamphetamine being produced internationally,” and suggested that increased supply may have contributed to lower prices. The Foundation reports that the average price per gram fell 36% between 2017/18 and 2024. The association between price and wastewater consumption does not prove that the price decline caused the increase.
Some users report frequent use
The Foundation’s Drug Trends Survey found that 29% of respondents who reported methamphetamine use in the previous six months used daily or near-daily in 2024, compared with 19% in 2022/23. This is a reported pattern among survey respondents, not a measure of the share of all New Zealanders using the drug. It is also a separate observation from the change in average price.
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Social pressures are part of the discussion, not a quantified cause
Helm has described the increase as occurring alongside social, employment and housing problems. Stephen King, director of the Alcohol and Drug Community Support Trust in Waikato, has pointed to pressure on household costs and the role addiction can play as an escape from difficult circumstances. These are frontline perspectives, not quantified findings showing how much any one pressure caused consumption to change.
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Helm has also raised the possibility that organised crime may have changed how it sells methamphetamine, while saying this is not well understood. The available account does not establish what those changes are or how much they contributed to the rise.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What seizure figures can—and cannot—show
A seizure shows that authorities intercepted a quantity within a defined operation; it is not a census of the market. A larger seizure total can reflect increased detection or enforcement as well as changes in attempted trafficking, and an interception does not reveal how much supply got through elsewhere.
- The 2025 Budget announcement said Customs and offshore partners had stopped nearly 8.5 tonnes of methamphetamine from entering New Zealand over the preceding two years. This combines New Zealand and offshore partner interceptions.
- In June 2025, Customs reported preliminary methamphetamine seizures of 976 kilograms for January–May. Customs explicitly excluded June figures, offshore seizures and other border seizures from that release, so the figure is not a full-year or comprehensive total.
These figures have different periods and scopes. Neither should be read as a direct measure of total methamphetamine supply or compared with wastewater consumption as though they count the same thing.
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Why the government response includes treatment as well as enforcement
The Ministry of Justice describes three concurrent lines of work: disrupting international supply, sharpening enforcement and reducing demand. Its listed examples include more Customs investment, a review of maritime security powers, Police recruitment, anti-money-laundering reforms and improvements to treatment services. The approach recognises that border interceptions address supply attempts, while treatment and other demand-reduction work address harms and needs that enforcement alone does not resolve.
In its 2025 Budget announcement, the government set out funding for up to 60 additional Customs roles over four years. The announced focus included lower-quantity, high-frequency smuggling through mail and airports, supply-chain security and insider threats, as well as an overseas liaison officer. These were planned resources and priorities, not demonstrated results from those new roles.
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