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. Despite the progress of the past few years, Afghanistan is extremely poor, landlocked, and highly dependent on foreign aid. Much of the population continues to suffer from shortages of housing, clean water, electricity, medical care, and jobs. Criminality, insecurity, weak governance, lack of infrastructure, and the Afghan Government's difficulty in extending rule of law to all parts of the country pose challenges to future economic growth. Afghanistan's living standards are among the lowest in the world. The international community remains committed to Afghanistan's development, pledging over $67 billion at nine donors' conferences between 2003-10. In July 2012, the donors at the Tokyo conference pledged an additional $16 billion in civilian aid through 2015. Despite this help, the Government of Afghanistan will need to overcome a number of challenges, including low revenue collection, anemic job creation, high levels of corruption, weak government capacity, and poor public infrastructure. Afghanistan's growth rate slowed markedly in 2013.
Agriculture Products
opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins
Industries
small-scale production of bricks, textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, apparel, food products, non-alcoholic beverages, mineral water, cement, handwoven carpets; natural gas, coal, copper
Industrial Production Growth Rate
NA%
Labor Force
7.512 million (2012 est.) country comparison to the world: 62
Labor Force by Occupation
agriculture: 78.6%
industry: 5.7%
services: 15.7% (FY08/09 est.)
Unemployment Rate
35% (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 187 40% (2005 est.)
Population Below Poverty Line
36% (FY08/09)
Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share
lowest 10%: 3.8%
highest 10%: 24% (2008)
Budget
revenues: $2.333 billion
expenditures: $4.122 billion (2012 est.)
Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
15% (31 December 2012 est.) country comparison to the world: 36 15.15% (31 December 2011 est.)
Stock of Narrow Money
$6.121 billion (31 December 2012 est.) country comparison to the world: 95 $5.928 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Stock of Broad Money
$6.499 billion (31 December 2012 est.) country comparison to the world: 119 $6.351 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Stock of Domestic Credit
$-819.6 million (31 December 2012 est.) country comparison to the world: 184 $-520.2 million (31 December 2011 est.)
Market Value of Publicly Traded Shares
$NA
Reserves of Foreign Exchange and Gold
$5.983 billion (31 December 2012 est.) country comparison to the world: 88 $5.268 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Debt External
$1.28 billion (FY10/11) country comparison to the world: 154 $2.7 billion (FY08/09)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment at Home
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment Abroad
Exchange Rates
afghanis (AFA) per US dollar -50.92 (2012 est.) 46.75 (2011 est.) 46.45 (2010)
