Merchandise trade in Afghanistan
Afghanistan: Merchandise trade was 22.2% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Merchandise trade in Afghanistan, 2000–2025
Source: World Trade Organization (WTO). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2025, merchandise trade in Afghanistan stood at 22.2%. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 10.0% on the previous year and down 48.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise trade in Afghanistan peaked at 66.7% in 2002 and was at its lowest, 22.2%, in 2025.
Afghanistan ranks 196th of 204 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
Merchandise trade in Afghanistan, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 37.3% | — |
| 2001 | 62.7% | +68.1% |
| 2002 | 66.7% | +6.4% |
| 2003 | 49.7% | -25.6% |
| 2004 | 47.5% | -4.3% |
| 2005 | 46.0% | -3.1% |
| 2006 | 45.3% | -1.5% |
| 2007 | 35.7% | -21.3% |
| 2008 | 35.2% | -1.2% |
| 2009 | 30.1% | -14.5% |
| 2010 | 35.0% | +16.1% |
| 2011 | 38.7% | +10.7% |
| 2012 | 47.7% | +23.3% |
| 2013 | 45.0% | -5.7% |
| 2014 | 40.5% | -10.1% |
| 2015 | 43.3% | +7.1% |
| 2016 | 39.4% | -9.2% |
| 2017 | 41.5% | +5.5% |
| 2018 | 45.9% | +10.5% |
| 2019 | 40.6% | -11.4% |
| 2020 | 36.7% | -9.8% |
| 2021 | 41.6% | +13.4% |
| 2022 | 33.4% | -19.6% |
| 2023 | 27.2% | -18.7% |
| 2024 | 24.7% | -9.1% |
| 2025 | 22.2% | -10.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 45.6% | 30.1% | 66.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 41.8% | 35.0% | 47.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 31.0% | 22.2% | 41.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Afghanistan
- 193 Comoros 23.1% compare
- 194 Sao Tome and Principe 22.5% compare
- 195 Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of 22.5% compare
- 197 Kenya 22.2% compare
- 198 Niger 21.3% compare
- 199 United States of America 18.5% compare
More private sector data for Afghanistan
- Food imports 26.9% (2019)
- Manufactures imports 41.1% (2019)
- Merchandise imports 3.61 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 63.9% (2019)
- Manufactures exports 4.8% (2019)
- Merchandise exports 926.00 million current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 21.12 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.0517 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 0.7617 % change on previous year (2025)
- Merchandise imports (current US$), per capita 82.25 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise trade in Afghanistan?
- Merchandise trade in Afghanistan was 22.2% in 2025, according to World Trade Organization (WTO).
- What is the highest merchandise trade recorded in Afghanistan?
- The highest recorded value was 66.7% in 2002.
- What is the lowest merchandise trade recorded in Afghanistan?
- The lowest recorded value was 22.2% in 2025.
- How does Afghanistan rank for merchandise trade?
- Afghanistan ranks 196th out of 204 countries with data for 2025.
- Is merchandise trade rising or falling in Afghanistan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 48.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Afghanistan data come from?
- The figures come from World Trade Organization (WTO), published as part of Merchandise trade (% of GDP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
General merchandise trade includes goods whose economic ownership is changed between a resident and a non-resident and that are not included in the following specific categories: goods under merchanting, non-monetary gold, and parts of travel, construction, and government goods and services n.i.e. It is the total of merchandise exports plus merchandise imports. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.