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  • Publication | 2023

Afghanistan Economic Monitor – October 2023

Global Food and Nutrition Security

Highlights on food security:

Consumer prices continue to decrease because of persistent economic weakness and reduced demand, prolonging the deflationary trend that began in April 2023. Half of all Afghans are living in poverty.

According to the latest official statistics, September 2023 year-on-year headline inflation stands at -9.1 percent. This is driven by a 13.3 and 4.3 percent deflation in food and non-food items. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, also registered -5.3 percent in September 2023. The Bank's Third-Party Monitoring Agent (TPMA) survey reveals that supply conditions are better, as major markets nationwide have sufficient essential food and non-food commodities. Deflation dynamics reflect the impact of depleted household savings, reduced public spending, and shocks to farmer income from poppy cultivation bans. These factors have further affected the already weak aggregate demand. The Afghanistan Welfare Monitoring Survey reveals that poverty affects one in every two Afghans, while about 15 million people are food insecure. To cope with the economic downturn, households have increased the participation of marginalized labor market members, such as youth and women. However, this response has increased unemployment due to the lack of available jobs.

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