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The Economy of Afghanistan

Afghan Economy

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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 2008. 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 $57 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 $3 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.

GDP:

GDP - real growth rate: 7.5% (2008 est.) 11.5% (2007 est.) 8.2% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita:

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 31% industry: 26% services: 43% note: data exclude opium production (2008 est.)

Population below poverty line:

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

Labor force: 15 million (2004 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 80% industry: 10% services: 10% (2004 est.)

Unemployment rate: 40% (2008 est.)

Budget: revenues: $890 million expenditures: $2.7 billion note: Afghanistan has also received $2.6 billion from the Reconstruction Trust Fund and $63 million from the Law and Order Trust Fund (2007 est.)

Industries: small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, cement; handwoven carpets; natural gas, coal, copper

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 839 million kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - production by source:

Electricity - consumption: 1.418 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - imports: 608 million kWh (2007 est.)

Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - consumption: 5,036 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports: 0 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - imports: 4,534 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - proved reserves: 0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

Natural gas - production: 20 million cu m (2006 est.)

Natural gas - consumption: 20 million cu m (2006 est.)

Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves: 49.55 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

Agriculture - products: opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins

Exports: $327 million; note - not including illicit exports or reexports (2007)

Exports - commodities: opium, fruits and nuts, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semi-precious gems

Exports - partners: India 22.8%, Pakistan 21.8%, US 20.5%, Tajikistan 7.2% (2007)

Imports: $4.85 billion (2007)

Imports - commodities: capital goods, food, textiles, petroleum products

Imports - partners: Pakistan 36.8%, US 11%, India 5%, Germany 4.2% (2007)

Debt - external: $8 billion in bilateral debt, mostly to Russia; Afghanistan has $500 million in debt to multilateral development banks (2004)

Economic aid - recipient:

Currency:

Currency code:

Exchange rates: afghanis (AFA) per US dollar - 50 (2007), 46 (2006), 47.7 (2005), 48 (2004), 49 (2003)

Fiscal year: