Current account balance in Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Current account balance was -15.7% in 2020. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2020)
-15.7%
Change on year
up 22.1%
World rank
182nd
of 200 countries
All-time high
2.2%
in 2009
All-time low
-25.9%
in 2012
Years of data
13
2008–2020

Current account balance in Afghanistan, 2008–2020

-30-20-1002008201420202008: -2.4 % of GDP2009: 2.2 % of GDP2010: -3.6 % of GDP2011: -12.6 % of GDP2012: -25.9 % of GDP2013: -25.3 % of GDP2014: -15.8 % of GDP2015: -21.9 % of GDP2016: -15 % of GDP2017: -19 % of GDP2018: -21.6 % of GDP2019: -20.2 % of GDP2020: -15.7 % of GDP

Source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of GDP.

Analysis

Afghanistan recorded -15.7% for current account balance in 2020.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 22.1% on the previous year and down 331.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, current account balance in Afghanistan peaked at 2.2% in 2009 and was at its lowest, -25.9%, in 2012.

That places Afghanistan 182nd out of 200 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Current account balance in Afghanistan, year by year

Annual values for Current account balance (% of GDP) in Afghanistan, 2008 to 2020.
Year % of GDP Change
2008 -2.4%
2009 2.2% -194.8%
2010 -3.6% -262.9%
2011 -12.6% +246.4%
2012 -25.9% +105.0%
2013 -25.3% -2.2%
2014 -15.8% -37.6%
2015 -21.9% +38.9%
2016 -15.0% -31.8%
2017 -19.0% +26.8%
2018 -21.6% +13.9%
2019 -20.2% -6.6%
2020 -15.7% -22.1%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s -0.1% -2.4% 2.2% 2
2010s -18.1% -25.9% -3.6% 10
2020s -15.7% -15.7% -15.7% 1

Countries ranked near Afghanistan

  1. 179 Burundi -13.7% compare
  2. 180 Sierra Leone -14.1% compare
  3. 181 Eritrea -14.8%
  4. 183 Palestine, State of -15.8% compare
  5. 184 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines -16.1% compare
  6. 185 Kiribati -17.6% compare

See the full ranking of 200 places →

More economy & growth data for Afghanistan

All data for Afghanistan →

Frequently asked questions

What is current account balance in Afghanistan?
Current account balance in Afghanistan was -15.7% in 2020, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
What is the highest current account balance recorded in Afghanistan?
The highest recorded value was 2.2% in 2009.
What is the lowest current account balance recorded in Afghanistan?
The lowest recorded value was -25.9% in 2012.
How does Afghanistan rank for current account balance?
Afghanistan ranks 182nd out of 200 countries with data for 2020.
Is current account balance rising or falling in Afghanistan?
Over the last ten years it is down 331.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Afghanistan data come from?
The figures come from Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Current account balance (% of GDP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 13 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Current account balance in Afghanistan. Statizoid, drawing on Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Retrieved 05 September 2026, from https://economy.statizoid.com/stat/current-account-balance-percent-of-gdp/afghanistan/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://economy.statizoid.com/stat/current-account-balance-percent-of-gdp/afghanistan/">Current account balance in Afghanistan</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Current account balance (% of GDP)
Unit
% of GDP
Source
Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
200 places, 7,731 data points, 1960–2025
Last refreshed

Balance of current transactions (transactions in goods and services, earned income and transfer income) between residents and non-residents. The term current account balance is used in the external accounts and is expressed from the perspective of resident units. The term current external balance is used in the national accounts and is expressed from the perspective of the non-resident units, and therefore with the opposite sign. 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.