Estimates point out that round 28 million individuals in Afghanistan had been residing in poverty in 2025, with the state of affairs compounded by mass inhabitants returns, worsening drought and shrinking worldwide aid.
Whereas Afghanistan recorded a second consecutive 12 months of financial development, actual GDP expanded by simply 1.9 per cent in 2025, down from 2.3 per cent the earlier 12 months. Inhabitants development, nevertheless, reached 6.5 per cent, leading to an estimated 2.1 per cent decline in actual GDP per capita.
UNDP’s report, Afghanistan Socioeconomic Overview, discovered that the share of Afghans going through subsistence insecurity remained largely unchanged, however a further 1.4 million individuals had been pushed into hardship following the return of two.9 million Afghans throughout 2025.
‘Nation beneath rising strain’
Tens of millions of households proceed struggling to entry necessities, together with water, meals, healthcare, housing, heating and clothes. Greater than 80 per cent of households are in debt, whereas almost three quarters depend on unfavourable coping methods to handle getting via the day.
“Taking inventory of Afghanistan’s socioeconomic actuality, this 12 months’s report reveals a rustic beneath rising strain,” stated Kanni Wignaraja, UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.
The size of returns has added additional strain. Practically 5 million Afghans have returned to the nation since 2023, many arriving in communities already going through extreme financial hardship.
In response to UNDP, 92 per cent of current returnees reported being unable to safe requirements for all times, in contrast with 74 per cent nationally. In provinces internet hosting the biggest numbers of returnees, solely 3 per cent of individuals have formal employment, whereas 78 per cent depend on informal day labour.
Local weather shocks and restrictions on girls
The report additionally highlights worsening local weather circumstances, with drought affecting 64 per cent of the nation final 12 months. Entry to satisfactory ingesting water fell sharply, dropping to 44 per cent from 59 per cent in 2024.
On the similar time, persevering with restrictions on girls and women are additional weakening Afghanistan’s economy and labour power.
Practically 100 decrees issued by the Taliban defacto authorities since 2021 stay in power, limiting girls’s entry to employment, schooling and freedom of motion.
Afghanistan’s commerce deficit additionally widened to a record $11.3 billion in 2025, equal to roughly 60 per cent of nominal GDP, pushed by rising imports and stagnant exports.
Aid cuts worsening humanitarian pressures
Declining worldwide help is additional compounding the crisis. Complete worldwide aid to Afghanistan fell by 16.5 per cent in 2025, even as wants continued to rise.
Greater than 440 clinics had been compelled to shut or scale back companies due to funding shortages, growing the proportion of individuals unable to entry healthcare from 16 per cent in 2024 to 23 per cent in 2025.
“Throughout Afghanistan, communities want greater than short-term aid. They want a pathway to progress,” stated Stephen Rodriques, UNDP Resident Consultant in Afghanistan.
“Investing in jobs, companies and native markets will assist enhance family economies and will probably be important to provide individuals an actual probability to rebuild their lives and regain management over their future.”
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