Afghanistan: Manufactures exports (% of merchandise exports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2019, Afghanistan's manufactures exports (% of merchandise exports) rose 1.36 percentage points on 2018 (from 3.41% to 4.77%).

Across the 25 yearly changes before that (1963 to 2018), the average change was −1.22 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.44 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 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 3.41 percentage points in 1964 and the biggest yearly fall was 16.64 percentage points in 2009. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2010 to 2019 the straight-line trend is downward, about 1.79 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 80% of the movement over 10 observed years.

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.

Closest to Afghanistan in the 2019 ranking

• Libya — 2nd of 2: 0.64%

What this measures

Manufactures comprise commodities in SITC (Rev. 3) sections 5 (chemicals), 6 (basic manufactures), 7 (machinery and transport equipment), and 8 (miscellaneous manufactured goods), excluding division 68 (non-ferrous metals). This indicator is expressed as a percentage of merchandise exports which is comprised of goods whose economic ownership is changed between a resident and a non-resident and that are not included in the following specific categories: goods under merchanting, non-monetary gold, and parts of travel, construction, and government goods and services n.i.e.

Limitations: Previous editions contained data based on the SITC revision 1. Data for earlier years in previous editions may differ because of the change in methodology. Concordance tables are available to convert data reported in one system to another.

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

All 28 values

Manufactures exports (% of merchandise exports) in nearby economies

• Algeria — 5.82% (2024)
• Bahrain — 26.01% (2024)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 47.83% (2025)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 21.4% (2023)
• Iraq — 0.43% (2024)
• Israel — 86.81% (2025)
• Jordan — 72.1% (2024)
• Kuwait — 5.68% (2025)
• Lebanon — 55.62% (2024)
• Libya — 0.64% (2019)

More private sector & trade data for Afghanistan

• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$3.61 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$926 million (2025)
• Merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports) — 12.88% (2023)
• Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies in South Asia (% of total merchandise exports) — 69.93% (2023)
• Merchandise exports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise exports) — 0% (2023)
• Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$438.77 million (2023)
• Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise exports) — 69.93% (2023)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Afghanistan's manufactures exports (% of merchandise exports)?

4.77% in 2019, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1962?

It is down 9.06 percentage points from 13.83% in 1962. The highest value was 34.68% in 2008 and the lowest 3.41% in 2018.

Is the latest change in manufactures exports (% of merchandise exports) unusual for Afghanistan?

In 2019, Afghanistan's manufactures exports (% of merchandise exports) rose 1.36 percentage points on 2018 (from 3.41% to 4.77%). Across the 25 yearly changes before that (1963 to 2018), the average change was −1.22 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.44 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Where does this data come from?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TX.VAL.MANF.ZS.UN, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Comtrade database, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Statistics Division; World Integrated Trade Solution system (WITS); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) 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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