Share of female business owners (% of total business owners) in Afghanistan
Afghanistan: Share of female business owners (% of total business owners) was 2.0% in 2018. ▲ Rising
Share of female business owners in Afghanistan, 2014–2018
Source: World Bank's Entrepreneurship Survey and database (https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/entrepreneurship). Downloaded on May 2, 2026. Measured in % of total business owners.
Analysis
In 2018, share of female business owners in Afghanistan stood at 2.0%. That is the highest value across all 5 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 42.5% on the previous year and up 60.6% over five years.
That places Afghanistan 72nd out of 72 countries with data for 2018, putting it in the bottom quarter.
Share of female business owners (% of total business owners) in Afghanistan, year by year
| Year | % of total business owners | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 1.3% | — |
| 2015 | 0.9% | -25.5% |
| 2016 | 1.3% | +34.5% |
| 2017 | 1.4% | +12.6% |
| 2018 | 2.0% | +42.5% |
Afghanistan compared with similar countries
- Afghanistan's 2.0% is below the median for low income countries, which is 23.4%, 9% of the median. (7 countries reporting)
- Afghanistan's 2.0% is below the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 15.0%, 14% of the median. (14 countries reporting)
Countries ranked near Afghanistan
- 69 Tajikistan 7.8% compare
- 70 Bahrain 5.1%
- 71 Bangladesh 3.9% compare
More private sector data for Afghanistan
- Merchandise trade 22.2% (2025)
- Food imports 26.9% (2019)
- Manufactures imports 41.1% (2019)
- Merchandise imports 3.61 billion current US$ (2025)
- Commercial service imports 1.04 billion current US$ (2020)
- Food exports 63.9% (2019)
- Manufactures exports 4.8% (2019)
- Merchandise exports 926.00 million current US$ (2025)
- Commercial service exports 597.45 million current US$ (2020)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 21.12 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of female business owners in Afghanistan?
- Share of female business owners in Afghanistan was 2.0% in 2018, according to World Bank's Entrepreneurship Survey and database (https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/entrepreneurship). Downloaded on May 2, 2026.
- What is the highest share of female business owners recorded in Afghanistan?
- The highest recorded value was 2.0% in 2018.
- What is the lowest share of female business owners recorded in Afghanistan?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.9% in 2015.
- How does Afghanistan rank for share of female business owners?
- Afghanistan ranks 72nd out of 72 countries with data for 2018.
- Where does this Afghanistan data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank's Entrepreneurship Survey and database (https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/entrepreneurship). Downloaded on May 2, 2026, published as part of Share of female business owners (% of total business owners). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Share of female business is the proportion of female newly registered limited liability company owners out of the total number of newly registered limited liability company owners in the economy in the calendar year.