Foreign trade figures of Afghanistan

Foreign Trade in Figures

After the collapse of the Taliban Government in 2001, Afghanistan opened up to international trade. The state had very few commercial barriers for imported products, and customs duties had been kept flat given weak imports. The share of trade peaked at 49.2% of GDP in 2018 before falling to 45.6% in 2019 (World Bank, latest data available), and it dropped further after the takeover of the Taliban in 2021. Afghanistan traditionally exports items with low value, such as dried fruit, carpets, cotton, cereals and non-alcoholic beverages. Its main items of import include wheat, peat, textile and petroleum products. Although not officially recorded, opium remains the main export of the country, estimated to be worth between USD 1.7 to 2.5 billion in 2021 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (as of 2022, Afghanistan's harvest produced more than 90% of illicit heroin globally and more than 95% of the European supply).
 
Afghanistan usually trades with its neighbours, Pakistan being its major trade partner. Pakistan, along with India, receive around 75% of Afghan exports, followed by the United Arab Emirates, China and Turkey. Iran is the main supplier of goods in Afghanistan, followed by China, Pakistan and Kazakhstan. Pakistan achieved bilateral trade of USD 1.513 billion in 2022, according to the State Bank of Pakistan; while trade with India reached USD 45 million last year, data from the Indian Ministry of Commerce show.
The poor state of its infrastructure, a legal and business framework that is still under development and continued insecurity act as de facto trade barriers. Nonetheless, at the end of 2015, Afghanistan's application to join the WTO was approved by its member states. The development of trade with Central Asia and Iran could increase exports along with the opening of a new railway linking China to Afghanistan via Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. In February 2023, the main border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan has been closed.

According to the latest available data from WTO, in 2021 exports edged up to USD 1 billion from USD 732 million a year earlier; whereas imports decreased to USD 5.5 billion (-22.2%). No data is available for 2021 trade in services. As can be seen from the above figures, Afghanistan has a structural trade deficit, which is expected to worsen following the establishment of the Taliban regime. Official statistics show that during the first half of 2022, the country imported merchandise worth USD 2.9 billion (10% lower than the comparable period one year earlier), while exports stood at USD 740 million (+21% - data World Bank).