<hdr>The World Factbook 1994: Afghanistan<nl>Economy</hdr><body>
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<item><hi format=bold>Overview:</hi> Afghanistan is an extremely poor, landlocked country, highly dependent on farming (wheat especially) and livestock raising (sheep and goats). Economic considerations have played second fiddle to political and military upheavals during more than 14 years of war, including the nearly 10-year Soviet military occupation (which ended 15 February 1989). Over the past decade, one-third of the population fled the country, with Pakistan sheltering more than 3 million refugees and Iran about 3 million. About 1.4 million Afghan refugees remain in Pakistan and about 2 million in Iran. Another 1 million probably moved into and around urban areas within Afghanistan. Although reliable data are unavailable, gross domestic product is lower than 12 years ago because of the loss of labor and capital and the disruption of trade and transport.
<item><hi format=bold>National product:</hi> GDP $NA
<item><hi format=bold>National product real growth rate:</hi> NA%
<item><hi format=bold>National product per capita:</hi> $NA
<item><hi format=bold>Illicit drugs:</hi> an illicit cultivator of opium poppy and cannabis for the international drug trade; world's second-largest opium producer after Burma (680 metric tons in 1993) and a major source of hashish
<item><hi format=bold>Economic aid:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>recipient:</hi> $450 million US assistance provided 1985-1993; USAID will stop all programs by mid-1994; the UN provides assistance in the form of food aid, immunization, land mine removal, and a wide range of aid to refugees and displaced persons