military upheavals during more than 14 years of war, including the
nearly 10-year Soviet military occupation (which ended 15 February
1989). Over the past decade, one-third of the population fled the
country, with Pakistan sheltering more than 3 million refugees and
Iran about 3 million. About 1.4 million Afghan refugees remain in
Pakistan and about 2 million in Iran. Another 1 million probably moved
into and around urban areas within Afghanistan. Although reliable data
are unavailable, gross domestic product is lower than 12 years ago
because of the loss of labor and capital and the disruption of trade
and transport.
National product:
GDP $NA
National product real growth rate:
NA%
National product per capita:
$NA
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
NA%
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues:
$NA
expenditures:
$NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Exports:
$243 million (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
fruits and nuts, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts,
precious and semi-precious gems
partners:
FSU countries, Pakistan, Iran, Germany, India, UK, Belgium,
Luxembourg, Czechoslovakia
Imports:
$737 million (c.i.f., 1991)
commodities:
food and petroleum products; most consumer goods
partners:
FSU countries, Pakistan, Iran, Japan, Singapore, India, South Korea,
Germany
External debt:
$2.3 billion (March 1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 2.3% (FY91 est.); accounts for about 25% of GDP
Electricity:
capacity:
480,000 kW
production:
1 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
60 kWh (1992)
Industries:
small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes,
fertilizer, and cement; handwoven carpets; natural gas, oil, coal,
copper
Agriculture:
largely subsistence farming and nomadic animal husbandry; cash
products - wheat, fruits, nuts, karakul pelts, wool, mutton
Illicit drugs:
an illicit cultivator of opium poppy and cannabis for the
international drug trade; world's second-largest opium producer after
Burma (680 metric tons in 1993) and a major source of hashish
Economic aid:
recipient:
$450 million US assistance provided 1985-1993; USAID will stop all
programs by mid-1994; the UN provides assistance in the form of food
aid, immunization, land mine removal, and a wide range of aid to
refugees and displaced persons
Currency:
1 afghani (AF) = 100 puls
Exchange rates:
afghanis (Af) per U