Australians are splurging more than $7 billion a year on illicit drugs, reaping huge rewards for manufacturers and dealers.

The spending, revealed by Australian Bureau of Statistics research, dwarfs the amount devoted to fighting the drug scourge and helping addicts.

Breaking down Australia's drug money.

The amount spent was $2 billion more than Australians spent on fashion and nearly double their spending on literature.

Drug experts and anti-drug campaigners said the data showed Australians spent about seven times more buying drugs in 2010 than governments spent on enforcing drug laws.