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Economic Data [Compare Countries]Economy Overview
Afghanistan’s economy is recovering from decades of conflict. The economy has improved significantly since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 largely because of the infusion of international assistance, the recovery of the agricultural sector, and service sector growth. Real GDP growth exceeded 7% in 2007. Despite the progress of the past few years, Afghanistan is extremely poor, landlocked, and highly dependent on foreign aid, agriculture, and trade with neighboring countries. Much of the population continues to suffer from shortages of housing, clean water, electricity, medical care, and jobs. Criminality, insecurity, and the Afghan Government’s inability to extend rule of law to all parts of the country pose challenges to future economic growth. It will probably take the remainder of the decade and continuing donor aid and attention to significantly raise Afghanistan’s living standards from its current level, among the lowest in the world. International pledges made by more than 60 countries and international financial institutions at the Berlin Donors Conference for Afghan reconstruction in March 2004 reached $8.9 billion for 2004-09. While the international community remains committed to Afghanistan’s development, pledging over $24 billion at three donors’ conferences since 2002, Kabul will need to overcome a number of challenges. Expanding poppy cultivation and a growing opium trade generate roughly $4 billion in illicit economic activity and looms as one of Kabul’s most serious policy concerns. Other long-term challenges include: budget sustainability, job creation, corruption, government capacity, and rebuilding war torn infrastructure.
Debt and Aid
Debt: $8 billion in bilateral debt, mostly to Russia; Afghanistan has $500 million in debt to Multilateral Development Banks (2004)
Aid Given: N/A
Aid Received: $2.775 billion (2005)
Labour Force
Number in labour force: 15 million (2004 est.)
Sectors: agriculture: 80% industry: 10% services: 10% (2004 est.)
Unemployment: 40% (2005 est.)
GDP Facts and Figures
Currency: afghani (AFA)
GDP: $35 billion (2007 est.)
GDP Per Capita: $1,000 (2007 est.)
GDP Real Growth: 12.4% (2007 est.)
GDP Composition: agriculture: 38% industry: 24% services: 38% note: data exclude opium production (2005 est.)
Production Growth Rate: NA%
Industries, Land Use and Resource Consumption
Industries: small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, cement; handwoven carpets; natural gas, coal, copper
Land use: arable land: 12.13% permanent crops: 0.21% other: 87.66% (2005)
Exports: opium, fruits and nuts, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semi-precious gems
Electricity Consumption: 801.4 million kWh (2005)
Natural Gas Consumption: 19.18 million cu m (2005 est.)
Oil Consumption: 5,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
