Cost of Living in Afghanistan
Image credit: Alessandro Balsamo
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Afghanistan: $1,984/capita.
Cities in Afghanistan
Income Category
GDP per Capita
Population
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 79% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Child Education
Public-schooling rules are not sourced for Afghanistan yet. Country-level enrollment, instruction-language, and homeschool notes will appear here once verified.
Childcare & Domestic Help
Nanny, housekeeper, and driver pricing is not yet sourced for Afghanistan. We publish this section only when we can tie it to verified local samples or a clearly marked country fallback.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Afghanistan.
Method: country metrics come from public system indicators, facility coverage reflects mapped providers we can inventory, direct pricing only reflects observed self-pay pages, and relative care cost can fall back to broad cost-of-living healthcare indices. Sparse pricing does not imply sparse healthcare availability.
Healthcare system
LimitedCoverage looks thinner, doctor staffing is lighter, and hospital capacity looks tighter weigh on this rating.
Public care
LimitedA visible public hospital footprint help, but public coverage looks thinner and public funding looks lighter.
Private care
MixedA meaningful tracked hospital and clinic network help, but self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse.
UHC coverage
42/100
2023
Physicians
0.32/1k
2023
Hospital beds
0.35/1k
2023
Out of pocket
77%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
66.3 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
521/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
33.1/1k
2024
International patient readiness
LimitedMultiple facilities have websites and there is visible specialty depth help, but price transparency is still sparse and headline outcomes are less reassuring.
Pricing transparency
LimitedMultiple facilities have crawlable websites help, but published self-pay prices are scarce.
Facility coverage
Self-pay pricing visibility
No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in Afghanistan yet.
This usually reflects low online price transparency rather than a lack of healthcare providers.
Notable facilities
System metrics: World Bank WDI · Updated 2026-06-01
Safety & Governance
Street Safety
Source: Numbeo where a city row is matched; otherwise World Bank WGI and country-level safety context.
Political Stability
World Bank WGI scale: -2.5 to +2.5.
Wages by Sector
| Sector | Median |
|---|---|
| Agriculture & Farming | — |
| Manufacturing | — |
2020 annual wages in Afghanistan · Source: ILO ILOSTAT (sector aggregate)
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders need advance travel authorization or a visa before entry.
About Afghanistan
Afghanistan presents a unique and exceptionally low-cost relocation scenario, particularly for individuals with foreign-sourced income, placing it among the world's cheapest countries. While the cost of daily necessities is minimal, practical considerations are paramount. The country faces significant security risks and ongoing political instability, which directly impacts the feasibility of relocation. Healthcare infrastructure is notably limited and generally of poor quality, and internet connectivity is unreliable. Visa policies remain unclear under the current administration, and access to services is severely constrained. Afghanistan's climate is continental, characterized by hot summers and cold winters.
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Common questions about Afghanistan
Sourced from SortaRich's public-data ranking engine — every figure links to its institutional source.
How much does it cost to live in Afghanistan?
The cost of living in Afghanistan is about 79% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), with an overall cost-of-living index of 21. SortaRich personalizes these numbers to your home city's purchasing power so the comparison is real, not nominal.
Sources: SortaRich Cost of Living, World Bank ICP 2021
How far does $1 go in Afghanistan?
$1 goes about 4.5x further in Afghanistan than in the baseline market — your home-country income stretches that much more (current PPP ratio: 4.47). The figure adjusts every year as exchange rates and local prices shift. SortaRich uses World Bank ICP 2021 as the anchor and Penn World Tables 11.0 for cross-validation.
Sources: World Bank ICP 2021, Penn World Tables 11.0
What visa do I need to move to Afghanistan?
To move to Afghanistan you have these visa options: Tourist entry: visa_required. Visa rules change frequently — confirm the current terms with the official immigration authority before booking flights.
Source: SortaRich Visa Database
What are the best cities to live in Afghanistan?
The best cities to live in Afghanistan are Kabul — those are the most-searched options among the 1 cities profiled in the SortaRich database. Each city page includes a personalized PPP comparison versus your home city plus subnational price data where available.
Source: SortaRich City Index