85% of Afghanistan's Population Lives Below the Poverty Line: UN

Approximately 85% of Afghanistan's population lives below the poverty line, according to a report titled "Afghanistan's Socio-Economic Prospects for 2023" published by the UN Development Program (UNDP).

“Immediately after taking power (referring to the Taliban), Afghanistan’s economy, which had already deteriorated over the last decade, collapsed. With a population of nearly 40 million and a GDP of $14.3 billion in 2021, Afghanistan is classified among the countries with the lowest per capita income in the world, while about 85% of its population lives below the poverty line.

The authors of the report state that Afghanistan’s GDP has been declining since August 2021, and the country is only supported by humanitarian aid from other nations. They believe that a 30% reduction in aid will result in Afghanistan becoming the poorest country, worse off than Syria, Sudan, and others, with GDP reverting to negative growth.

To affect the poverty level, Afghanistan needs to achieve at least 3% growth. Should aid be cut in 2023, this figure would become entirely negative and be very low in 2024.

“However, only 5% of the humanitarian aid program had been financed as of the end of April this year,” said Surayo Buzurokova, Deputy Resident Representative of the UN Development Program in Afghanistan, during an interview with the UN news service.