Economy - overview:
Afghanistan's economic outlook has improved significantly since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 because of the infusion of over $8 billion in international assistance, recovery of the agricultural sector and growth of the service sector, and the reestablishment of market institutions. Real GDP growth is estimated to have slowed in the last fiscal year primarily because adverse weather conditions cut agricultural production, but is expected to rebound over 2005-06 because of foreign donor reconstruction and service sector growth. Despite the progress of the past few years, Afghanistan remains extremely poor, landlocked, and highly dependent on foreign aid, farming, and trade with neighboring countries. 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 status, among the lowest in the world. Much of the population continues to suffer from shortages of housing, clean water, electricity, medical care, and jobs, but the Afghan government and international donors remain committed to improving access to these basic necessities by prioritizing infrastructure development, education, housing development, jobs programs, and economic reform over the next year. Growing political stability and continued international commitment to Afghan reconstruction create an optimistic outlook for continuing improvements in the Afghan economy in 2006. Expanding poppy cultivation and a growing opium trade may account for one-third of GDP and looms as one of Kabul's most serious policy challenges. Other long-term challenges include: boosting the supply of skilled labor, reducing vulnerability to severe natural disasters, expanding health services, and rebuilding a war torn infrastructure.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$21.5 billion (2004 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
NA
GDP - real growth rate:
8% (2005 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$800 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 38%
industry: 24%
services: 38%
note: data exclude opium production (2005 est.)
Labor force:
15 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 80%
industry: 10%
services: 10% (2004 est.)
Unemployment rate:
40% (2005 est.)
Population below poverty line:
53% (2003)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
16.3% (2005 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $269 million
expenditures: $561 million; including capital expenditures of $41.7 million
note: Afghanistan has also received $273 million from the Reconstruction Trust Fund and $63 million from the Law and Order Trust Fund (FY04-05 budget est.)
Agriculture - products:
opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins
Industries:
small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, cement; handwoven carpets; natural gas, coal, copper
Industrial production growth rate:
NA%
Electricity - production:
905 million kWh (2003)
Electricity - consumption:
1.042 billion kWh (2003)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2003)
Electricity - imports:
200 million kWh (2003)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2003)
Oil - consumption:
5,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA bbl/day
Oil - imports:
NA bbl/day
Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production:
50 million cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
50 million cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
99.96 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
Exports:
$471 million; note - not including illicit exports or reexports (2005 est.)
Exports - commodities:
opium, fruits and nuts, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semi-precious gems
Exports - partners:
Pakistan 24%, India 21.3%, US 12.4%, Germany 5.5% (2004)
Imports:
$3.87 billion (2005 est.)
Imports - commodities:
capital goods, food, textiles, petroleum products
Imports - partners:
Pakistan 25.5%, US 8.7%, India 8.5%, Germany 6.5%, Turkmenistan 5.3%, Kenya 4.7%, South Korea 4.2%, Russia 4.2% (2004)
Debt - external:
$8 billion in bilateral debt, mostly to Russia; Afghanistan has $500 million in debt to Multilateral Development Banks (2004)
Economic aid - recipient:
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
Currency (code):
afghani (AFA)
Exchange rates:
afghanis per US dollar - 541 (2005), 48 (2004), 49 (2003), 41 (2002), 66 (2001)
note: in 2002, the afghani was revalued and the currency stabilized at about 50 afghanis to the dollar; before 2002, the market rate varied widely from the official rate
Fiscal year:
21 March - 20 March
