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Afghanistan — Unemployment
Unemployment Rate for Afghanistan, 1991–2025.
Latest value · 2025
13.35%
Unemployment Rate · % of total labor force · +67.5% since 1991
Unemployment for Afghanistan was 13.35% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 35 years, from 1991 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 14.10% in 2022. The lowest was 7.79% in 2004 (about 1.7× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 1.53% per year.
Afghanistan ranks 21 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 11%. The median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan is 9.00%, so Afghanistan sits above it. It peaked in 2022 and has fallen 5% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved up 48%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
13.35%
First (1991)
7.97%
Change
+67.5%
Highest
14.10%
in 2022
Lowest
7.79%
in 2004
Average
9.16%
Annual growth (CAGR)
1.53%
Years of data
35
Recent years
| Year | % of total labor force |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 13.35% |
| 2024 | 13.69% |
| 2023 | 14.01% |
| 2022 | 14.1% |
| 2021 | 12.01% |
| 2020 | 11.71% |
| 2019 | 11.19% |
| 2018 | 11.19% |
| 2017 | 11.18% |
| 2016 | 10.12% |
| 2015 | 9.03% |
| 2014 | 7.92% |
Reading this correctly. Share of the labor force without work but available for and seeking employment. National definitions differ, so cross-country comparison needs care. Figures are in % of total labor force. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS — Unemployment Rate. Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.