
Economy
Afghanistan is one of the world's poorest and least developed economies, devastated by more than four decades of war and heavily dependent on agriculture and foreign aid.
Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the country has been cut off from most international assistance and its central-bank reserves frozen, triggering economic collapse and a severe humanitarian crisis.
The economy rests on subsistence agriculture and livestock, with opium poppy historically a major illicit cash crop now officially banned, alongside largely untapped mineral wealth including copper, iron, and rare earths.