Afghanistan: Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2021, Afghanistan's foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) rose 0.08 percentage points on 2020 (from 0.06% to 0.14%).

Across the 20 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2020), the average change was +0 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.9 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 2.3 percentage points in 2004 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.48 percentage points in 2008. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2012 to 2021 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 7% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

What this measures

Foreign direct investment is the net inflows of investment to acquire a lasting management interest (10 percent or more of voting stock) in an enterprise operating in an economy other than that of the investor. It is the sum of equity capital, reinvestment of earnings, other long-term capital, and short-term capital as shown in the balance of payments. This series shows net inflows (new investment inflows less disinvestment) in the reporting economy from foreign investors, and is divided by GDP.

Limitations: FDI data do not give a complete picture of international investment in an economy. Balance of payments data on FDI do not include capital raised locally, an important source of investment financing in some developing countries. In addition, FDI data omit nonequity cross-border transactions such as intra-unit flows of goods and services. The volume of global private financial flows reported by the World Bank generally differs from that reported by other sources because of differences in sources, classification of economies, and method used to adjust and disaggregate reported information.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 22 values

Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Algeria — 0.54% (2025)
• Bahrain — 1.68% (2025)
• Djibouti — 3.22% (2025)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 4.23% (2025)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 0.45% (2025)
• Iraq — -2.99% (2025)
• Israel — 4.3% (2025)
• Jordan — 3.28% (2025)
• Kuwait — 0.26% (2025)
• Lebanon

More economic policy & debt data for Afghanistan

• Grants, excluding technical cooperation (BoP, current US$) — US$3.02 billion (2023)
• Technical cooperation grants (BoP, current US$) — US$132.59 million (2023)
• Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, Germany (current US$) — US$275.22 million (2023)
• Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, Total (current US$) — US$2.57 billion (2023)
• Net official development assistance and official aid received (current US$) — US$3.06 billion (2023)
• Net official development assistance and official aid received (constant 2023 US$) — US$3.06 billion (2023)
• Net official development assistance received (current US$) — US$3.06 billion (2023)
• Net official development assistance received (constant 2023 US$)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Afghanistan's foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP)?

0.14% in 2021, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2000?

It is up 0.14 percentage points from 0.00483% in 2000. The highest value was 4.37% in 2005 and the lowest 0.00483% in 2000.

Is the latest change in foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) unusual for Afghanistan?

In 2021, Afghanistan's foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) rose 0.08 percentage points on 2020 (from 0.06% to 0.14%). Across the 20 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2020), the average change was +0 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.9 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator BX.KLT.DINV.WD.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Financial Statistics and Balance of Payments databases, International Monetary Fund (IMF); International Debt Statistics, World Bank (WB); World Bank GDP estimates, World Bank (WB); OECD GDP estimates, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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