Afghanistan: Trade balance, percent of GDP

* indicates monthly or quarterly data series
 Afghanistan

Trade balance as percent of GDP

 Latest value -52.36
 Year 2024
 Measure percent
 Data availability 2020 - 2024
 Average -34.32
 Min - Max -52.36 - -22.73
 Source The World Bank
 Available for Data download
The latest value from 2024 is -52.36 percent, a decline from -34.53 percent in 2023. In comparison, the world average is -4.41 percent, based on data from 166 countries. Historically, the average for Afghanistan from 2020 to 2024 is -34.32 percent. The minimum value, -52.36 percent, was reached in 2024 while the maximum of -22.73 percent was recorded in 2021. See the global rankings for that indicator or use the country comparator to compare trends over time.
Select indicator
* indicates monthly or quarterly data series
From   To 


 Recent values Afghanistan: Trade balance, percent of GDP
 2024 -52.36
 2023 -34.53
 2022 -36.13
 2021 -22.73
 2020 -25.87




The trade balance for Afghanistan and other countries is calculated as the difference between the exports and imports of goods and services, as percent of GDP. A positive number means trade surplus and a negative number means trade deficit.
Definition: The balance of international trade in goods and services is the difference between the exports and imports of goods and services. 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.

Other resources:

Download data from our database

All indicators for Afghanistan

All indicators on the website

Article: Are trade deficits bad for the economy?

Article: Sources of economic growth

Article: Currency values and investment returns

All articles



 Related indicators Latest Reference Measure
 Terms of trade 107.30 2024 percent
 Trade openness 83.76 2024 percent
 Financial openness -1.935 2000 index points
 Exports, percent of GDP 15.70 2024 percent
 Exports, billion dollars 2.79 2024 billion U.S. dollars
 Growth of exports -0.34 2024 percent
 Imports, percent of GDP 68.06 2024 percent
 Imports, billion dollars 12.10 2024 billion U.S. dollars
 Foreign Direct Investment, percent of GDP 0.14 2021 percent
 Foreign Direct Investment, billion dollars 0.02 2021 billion U.S. dollars
 Portfolio investment inflows, equities 0.00 1989 million dollars (current)
 Current account, percent of GDP -15.72 2020 percent
 Current account, in dollars -3.14 2020 billion U.S. dollars
 Trade balance, percent of GDP -52.36 2024 percent
 Trade balance, in dollars -5.51 2020 billion U.S. dollars
 Reserves 9.75 2020 billion U.S. dollars
 Remittances, percent of GDP 3.95 2020 percent
 Remittances 788.92 2020 million U.S. dollars
 Net errors and omissions 2,997.40 2020 million USD
 External debt 19.88 2023 percent
 Short-term external debt 12.45 2023 percent
 Short-term debt to reserves 4.46 2020 percent
This site uses cookies.
Learn more here


OK