The street-level price of meth dropped again last year to the cheapest the drug has ever been in New Zealand, according to new research into the illicit market.
And because the price has decreased so much, there has been a correlated increase in the number of existing users who consume more methamphetamine.
The average price of a gram was $334 in 2025, which has steadily decreased from $563 in 2017, according to an anonymous Massey University survey of nearly 9000 drug users.
When adjusted for inflation, last year’s price was $253 - or a 55% drop from eight years ago.
“The prices are getting a little bit scary now,” said Professor Chris Wilkins who runs the New Zealand Drug Trends Survey every year.
“When I first started [researching] in 2000, the average price of a gram was $1000. Now it’s $283 in Auckland.”
The next cheapest regions for a gram were the Waikato, Gisborne and Hawkes Bay ($306) followed by Northland ($308).
The average price of a “point” of meth - or 0.1g, which is the usual quantity consumed - was $74 in 2025.
This was down from about $100 in 2017, which had been a consistent price for many years.
The cheapest places for a point of meth in 2025 were Northland ($62), Auckland ($63) and Southland/West Coast ($64).
Wilkins described the ongoing drop in the price of meth as “dramatic and persistent”, which had reached a new low with unwelcome ramifications for the wider public.
“The price has essentially collapsed. When prices decline like this, it starts to become affordable for new users, such as young people or those on low incomes with more stress in their lives,” Wilkins said.
“Meth used to be more of a top-end drug; now it’s almost competing with cannabis which is a concern.”
Cheaper meth also means that existing users can consume more.
According to the New Zealand Drug Trend Survey, the proportion of respondents who used meth every week, or more frequently, increased from 27% in 2017 to 57% last year.
The proportion who reported they were using meth more frequently because it was cheaper rose from 19% in 2024 to 33% in 2025.
These findings from Massey University sit alongside wastewater drug testing conducted which showed that meth consumption more than doubled in the second half of 2024.
While the wastewater data dropped back from those record levels in the first half of 2025, consumption still remained historically high last year.
“It seems to cement the understanding that what we’re seeing is not necessarily a massive increase in the number of users, but chronic users consuming more frequently,” Wilkins said.
That was still “disturbing”, Wilkins said, given that higher and more frequent use is linked to greater harms like dependency, psychosis and pressure on partners and families.
The drug survey also revealed that cocaine supply and use continue to grow.
Although still dwarfed by the meth market, the proportion of users describing cocaine as “easy” to obtain was 43% in 2025 - up from 17% in 2018.
The average price of a gram last year was $360.
The emerging trend of cocaine, as well as the rock-bottom price of meth, has been driven by greater global supply of both Class-A drugs.
Despite a string of record-breaking drug busts in recent years, the local market has been flooded with methamphetamine supplied by Mexican cartels and Asian crime syndicates working with outlaw motorcycle gangs.
The 2024 wastewater statistics were so dire that the Government appointed a group of experts to advise Cabinet on how to tackle the growing threat of transnational organised crime.
Chaired by Steve Symon, a veteran prosecutor in Auckland, the advisory group produced monthly reports with detailed recommendations on topics such as money laundering, corruption, and information-sharing.
But for agencies to be held accountable for making the necessary changes, the panel’s final report recommended that a government minister with a dedicated focus needed to be put in charge.
The Government has been considering the advisory group’s final report since late October, and released a new five-year Transnational, Serious and Organised Crime [TSOC] strategy in December.
The first priority listed on the strategy document was “exploring options” for a department or agency, to be overseen by a government minister.
The second priority was to develop an effective method for existing agencies to share data, as poor information-sharing was highlighted by the advisory group as one of the biggest barriers for law enforcement.
This is likely to be a central repository in the form of a ‘data lake’ and a national framework so government departments know what can - and cannot - be shared legally.
“We established a Ministerial Advisory Group to provide expert advice, and its key recommendations were the need for strengthened governance and accountability across government and better information sharing,” Costello said.
“Basically, we need an organised government to fight organised crime, and through the action plan we are working on the best way of doing this and making full use of all of the resources, powers and information that agencies collectively possess.”
In December, Costello told the Herald that getting all the various Cabinet ministers to sign-off on the strategy was a “big step forward”.
“Everyone agrees that a new approach is needed. Now it’s about working out how to make it happen.”
Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including twice being named Reporter of the Year. He is also the author of Gangland, Gangster’s Paradise and Underworld.