Life in Afghanistan: Every Number That Shapes It (1800–2100)

To translate the statistics of a nation is to map the quiet progress of generations. Behind these figures lie the changing realities of households navigating history across three centuries. From the essential reach of electricity at home rising to 91 %, to the drastic decline in child mortality from 280 to 38 per 1,000 births, these data points offer a cold but vital view of human security. They quantify the shift in daily survival, illustrating how far infrastructure and medicine have traveled to alter the fundamental conditions of existence.

The historical arc revealed here is one of profound transformation. In the 1950s, a person lived with a life expectancy of 36 years, while the average income per person stood at 1,000 intl-$. Today, as extreme poverty has fallen to 10 %, the nation reflects a different landscape. Years of schooling have climbed to 6.5 years, and children per woman have shifted to 2.3 births. These indicators mark a departure from the mid-century experience, capturing a trajectory shaped by gradual access to global systems and internal development.

For a child born in the 2020s, the world is markedly different from that of their ancestors. They enter a society where 35 % of the population lives in cities and 35 % have internet access. On an average income of 5,500 international dollars, they face a life expectancy of 70 years. While they may still labor for 2,250 hours/year, they inhabit a space where the odds of survival have been rewritten. You can visit the project archives to compute your own parallel life in Afghanistan.