The latest market, economy, central-bank, policy and company stories from Afghanistan, updated every 15 minutes. Last updated 19 October 2026.
| GDP growth (2024) | 1.9% | Moderate growth. |
| Inflation (2024) | -6.6% | Prices are falling (deflation). |
| Unemployment (2025) | 13.4% | High: many people can’t find work. |
| GDP per person (2024) | $417 | Average output per person: a rough measure of how wealthy a country is. |
| Current account (2020) | -15.7% of GDP | Deficit: spends more abroad than it earns, so it relies on foreign money. |
| Exports (2024) | 15.7% of GDP | Driven mostly by its home market. |
Latest official annual figures from World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0). Context, not a forecast or financial advice.
Europe's increasingly pragmatic engagement with Afghanistan's Taliban rulers is exposing a fundamental contradiction between diplomatic non-recognition and political necessity.
Guantanamo Bay opened after the US invasion of Afghanistan. 25 years later, the war is over, but the prison remains open