Nearly three-quarters of Afghanistan’s population remains unable to meet basic living needs, according to a new report by the UN Development Program, which warned that worsening economic pressures, mass returns from neighboring countries and severe drought conditions are deepening the country’s humanitarian crisis.
The report found that 74 percent of Afghans were classified as “subsistence insecure” in 2025, meaning they faced serious deprivation in food, healthcare, housing, water and livelihoods. The figure remained unchanged from the previous year, underscoring what the report described as entrenched and widespread hardship across the country.
The findings were published in the Afghanistan Socioeconomic Review 2024–2025 by the UN Development Program.
Despite modest economic growth, the report said Afghanistan’s economy remained too weak to keep pace with rapid population growth driven by the return of millions of Afghans from Iran and Pakistan.
Real gross domestic product grew by 1.9 percent in the 2024–25 fiscal year, but per capita income was estimated to have declined by 2.1 percent because of the country’s sharply expanding population.
The report said 2.7 million Afghans returned from Iran and Pakistan in 2025 alone, bringing the total number of returnees since 2023 to 4.9 million — one of the world’s largest recent population movements.
Many returnees arrived without jobs, documentation or savings, placing additional strain on communities already facing rising unemployment, shrinking aid and climate-related shocks, the report said. Only 3 percent of recently returned households held formal jobs, while 78 percent relied on casual labor.
The report described widening regional disparities, with subsistence insecurity ranging from 53 percent in central Afghanistan to 92 percent in the eastern region, where floods and large returnee inflows intensified economic pressure.
Rural communities continued to fare worse than urban areas. About 78 percent of rural households were classified as subsistence insecure, compared with 62 percent in cities.
The United Nations also warned of worsening food insecurity and mounting household debt. About 81 percent of families were in debt in 2025, while nearly three-quarters of households relied on coping mechanisms to survive economic hardship.
Drought emerged as one of the country’s most severe pressures. The report said drought conditions nearly doubled over the past year, affecting 64 percent of households nationwide, while water shortages worsened sharply. National access to sufficient drinking water fell from 59 percent to 44 percent.
The health sector also showed signs of collapse, according to the report. More than 440 health centers suspended operations or closed in 2025 because of funding shortages, leaving many Afghans without access to medical care.
Women and girls remained among the hardest hit by the crisis.
The report said Taliban restrictions on women’s education, employment and movement had deepened Afghanistan’s “human capabilities crisis.” Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where girls are barred from secondary and university education.
Girls’ school attendance remained at 42 percent in 2025, compared with 73 percent for boys, while female literacy among heads of households stood at 29 percent — less than half the rate for men.
The report said restrictions on women’s participation in public life were undermining economic recovery and weakening the delivery of essential services, particularly healthcare and education.
International assistance to Afghanistan also declined sharply in 2025.
Humanitarian funding fell by nearly 44 percent, from $1.62 billion in 2024 to $910 million in 2025, even as humanitarian needs remained exceptionally high. Overall international assistance dropped from $3.21 billion to $2.68 billion during the same period.
The report warned that without sustained international support, expanded livelihoods programs and the removal of restrictions on women and girls, Afghanistan’s economic and humanitarian conditions were likely to deteriorate further.
