Economy of Afghanistan

Economy of Afghanistan
	Kabul, the economic capital of Afghanistan
Currency	Afghani (AFN)
Fiscal year	21 December – 20 December
Trade organizations	ECO, SAARC, SCO (observer) and WTO
Country group	Developing/Emerging; Low-income economy; Least developed country;
Statistics
Population	42,647,492 (2024)
GDP	$18.080 billion (nominal; 2024); $95.253 billion (PPP; 2024);
GDP rank	136th (nominal; 2024); 104th (PPP; 2024);
GDP growth	4.3% (2025);
GDP per capita	$417 (nominal; 2024); $2,196 (PPP; 2024);
GDP per capita rank	195th (nominal; 2024); 185th (PPP; 2024);
GDP by sector	agriculture: 34.7%; industry: 13.4%; services: 46.4%; (2023); note: data exclude opium production;
Inflation (CPI)	-6.6% (2024)
Population below poverty line	48% (2024, OCHA); NA% on less than $1.90/day;
Human Development Index	0.496 low (2023)
Labor force	14,450,224 (2019); 47% employment to population ratio (2021);
Labor force by occupation	agriculture: 44.3%; industry: 18.1%; services: 37.6%; (2017);
Unemployment	13.3% (2024)
Main industries	small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, apparel, food-products, non-alcoholic beverages, mineral water, cement; handwoven carpets; natural gas, coal, copper
External
Exports	$2 billion (2022); note: not including illicit exports or reexports;
Export goods	fruits, nuts, rugs, wool, cotton, hides, gemstone, and medical herbs
Main export partners	Pakistan 42%; India 40%; China 4%; United Arab Emirates 2%; Turkey 2% (2023);
Imports	$7 billion (2022)
Import goods	machinery and other capital goods, food, textiles and petroleum products
Main import partners	United Arab Emirates 28%; Pakistan 15%; China 15%; Uzbekistan 12%; Kazakhstan 9% (2023);
Current account	-$3.137 billion (2020)
Gross external debt	$1.4 billion (2022)
Public finances
Government debt	8.3% of GDP (2023)
Foreign reserves	$9.6 billion (Frozen by the U.S.)(2021)
Budget balance	−15.1% (of GDP) (2017)
Revenues	2.276 billion (2017)
Expenses	5.328 billion (2017)
	All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Afghanistan is listed as the 124th largest in the world in terms of nominal gross domestic product (GDP), and 102nd largest in the world in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). With a population of around 40 million people, Afghanistan's GDP (nominal) stands at $14.58 billion as of 2021, amounting to a GDP per capita of $363.7 (according to a World Bank report). Its annual exports is around $2 billion, with agricultural, mineral and textile products accounting for 94% of total exports. The nation's total external debt is currently about $1.4 billion.

The Afghan economy continues to improve due to the influx of expats, establishment of more trade routes with neighboring and regional countries, and expansion of the nation's agriculture, transport, energy and mining sectors. The billions of dollars that came from expats and the international community saw this increase when there was more political stability.

Despite holding mineral deposits worth over $2.5 trillion, with huge amounts of copper, rare earths and minerals, Afghanistan remains as one of the least developed countries in the world. Its unemployment rate is little over 13%, and around 48% of its population lives below the poverty line. The reason for this has been the continuous war in the country, which deterred major infrastructure developments and foreign investments. The population of Afghanistan increased by more than 50% between 2001 and 2014, while its GDP grew eightfold. After the Islamic Emirate's return to power in 2021, the Biden administration decided to confiscate or withhold $9.5 billion worth of Afghanistan's assets to stop the Taliban from accessing it.

The official currency of Afghanistan is the afghani (AFN), which has an exchange rate of around 65 afghanis to 1 United States dollar. The country has a central bank called Da Afghanistan Bank. A number of other banks also operate in the country, including the Afghanistan International Bank, Azizi Bank, New Kabul Bank, and Pashtany Bank.