Population, female (% of total population) in Afghanistan was reported at 49.51 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Afghanistan - Population, female (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Afghanistan Sex Ratio at Birth: Male Births per Female Births data was reported at 1.051 Ratio in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1.052 Ratio for 2022. Afghanistan Sex Ratio at Birth: Male Births per Female Births data is updated yearly, averaging 1.053 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.065 Ratio in 2003 and a record low of 1.049 Ratio in 1971. Afghanistan Sex Ratio at Birth: Male Births per Female Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Sex ratio at birth refers to male births per female births.;United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2024 Revision.;Weighted average;

AF: Population: Female: Ages 40-44: % of Female Population data was reported at 4.000 % in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 3.993 % for 2022. AF: Population: Female: Ages 40-44: % of Female Population data is updated yearly, averaging 4.028 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4.469 % in 1960 and a record low of 3.746 % in 2002. AF: Population: Female: Ages 40-44: % of Female Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Female population between the ages 40 to 44 as a percentage of the total female population.;United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2024 Revision.;;

This scatter chart displays male population (people) against proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%) in Afghanistan. The data is about countries per year.

Abstract

The 2015 Afghanistan Demographic and Health Survey (2015 AfDHS) is the first DHS survey conducted in Afghanistan. The main objective of the 2015 AfDHS is to provide up-to-date information on fertility and childhood mortality levels; fertility preferences; awareness, approval, and use of family planning methods; maternal and child health; and knowledge and attitudes toward HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The 2015 AfDHS calls for a nationally representative sample of 25,650 residential households; in all the sample households, all ever-married women age 15-49 who are usual members of the selected households and those who spent the night before the survey in the selected households were eligible to be interviewed in the survey. In half of the sample households, all ever-married men age 15-49 who are usual members of the selected households and those who spent the night before the survey in the selected households were eligible to be interviewed in the survey. In each household, one woman age 15-49 was randomly selected to be eligible for the Domestic Violence module.

The 2015 AfDHS was designed to provide most of the key indicators for the country as a whole, for urban and rural areas separately, and for each of the 34 provinces in Afghanistan. These provinces are located in eight regions as follows: - The Northern region: Balkh, Faryab, Jawzjan, Samangan, and Sar-E-Pul - The North Eastern region: Badakhshan, Baghlan, Kunduz, and Takhar - The Western region: Badghis, Farah, Ghor, and Herat - The Central Highland region: Bamyan and Daykundi - The Capital region: Kabul, Kapisa, Logar, Panjsher, Parwan, and Wardak - The Southern region: Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, Nimroz, Urozgan, and Zabul - The South Eastern region: Khost, Paktika, and Paktya - The Eastern region: Kunarha, Laghman, Nangarhar, and Nooristan

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

• Household
• Individual
• Woman age 15-49
• Man age 15-49

Universe

The survey covered all de jure household members (usual residents), and all ever-women aged 15-49 years resident in the household.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sampling frame used for the 2015 AfDHS is an updated version of the Household Listing Frame, prepared in 2003-04 and updated in 2009, provided by the Central Statistics Organization (CSO). The sampling frame had information on 25,974 enumeration areas (EAs). An EA is a geographic area consisting of a convenient number of dwelling units that serve as counting units for the census. The sampling frame contained information about the location (province, district, and control area), the type of residence (urban or rural), and the estimated number of residential households for each of the 25,974 EAs. Satellite maps were also available for each EA, which delimited the geographic boundaries of the area. The sampling frame excluded institutional populations such as persons in hotels, barracks, and prisons.

The 2015 AfDHS followed a stratified two-stage sample design and was intended to allow estimates of key indicators at the national level, in urban and rural areas, and for each of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. The first stage involved selecting sample points (clusters) consisting of EAs. A total of 950 clusters were selected, 260 in urban areas and 690 in rural areas. It was recognized that some areas of the country might be difficult to reach because of ongoing security issues. Therefore, to mitigate the situation, reserve clusters were selected in all of the provinces to replace the inaccessible clusters. The 101 reserve clusters that were preselected did not exceed 10% of the selected clusters in the province.

The second stage involved systematic sampling of households. A household listing operation was undertaken in all of the selected clusters, and a fixed number of 27 households per cluster were selected through an equal probability systematic selection process, for a total sample size of 25,650 households. Because of the approximately equal sample size in each province, the sample is not self-weighting at the national level, and weighting factors have been calculated, added to the data file, and applied so that results are representative at the national level.

All ever-married women age 15-49 who were either permanent residents of the selected households or visitors who stayed in the households the night before the survey were eligible to be interviewed. In half of the households, all ever-married men age 15-49 who were either residents of the selected households or visitors who stayed in the households the night before the survey were eligible to be interviewed.

During the household listing operation, more than 70 selected clusters were identified as insecure. Therefore, a decision was made to carry out the household listing operation in all of the 101 preselected reserve clusters, which also accounted for the possibility of identifying more insecure clusters during data collection. Household listing was successfully completed in 976 of 1,051 clusters. Overall, the survey was successfully carried out in 956 clusters.

For further details on sample selection, see Appendix A of the final report.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Three questionnaires were used for the 2015 AfDHS: the Household Questionnaire, the Woman’s Questionnaire, and the Man’s Questionnaire. These questionnaires, based on the DHS Program’s standard Demographic and Health Survey questionnaires, were adapted to reflect the population and health issues relevant to Afghanistan. Input was solicited from various stakeholders representing government ministries and agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and international donors. After all questionnaires were finalized in English, the questionnaires were translated into Dari and Pashto. The survey protocol and the questionnaires were approved by the ICF Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the Ministry of Public Health of Afghanistan.

Cleaning operations

All completed questionnaires were edited in the field and dispatched to the data processing center at the CSO central office in Kabul. CSPro data processing software was used to enter the data. All the data were entered twice for 100% verification.

Response rate

A total of 25,741 households were selected for the sample, of which 24,941 were occupied during the survey fieldwork. Of the occupied households, 24,395 were successfully interviewed, yielding a response rate of 98%.

In the interviewed households, 30,434 ever-married women age 15-49 were identified for individual interviews; interviews were completed with 29,461 of these women, yielding a response rate of 97%. In the subsample of households selected for the male survey, 11,778 ever-married men age 15-49 were identified and 10,760 were successfully interviewed, yielding a response rate of 91%. The lower response rate for men was likely due to their more frequent and longer absences from the household.

The response rates are lower in urban areas than in rural areas. The difference is more prominent for men than women, as men in the urban areas are often away from their households for work. Moreover, given the security situation in the country, the field teams could not carry out interviews in the late evenings when more men are at home.

Sampling error estimates

The estimates from a sample survey are affected by two types of errors: nonsampling errors and sampling errors. Nonsampling errors are the results of mistakes made in implementing data collection and data processing, such as failure to locate and interview the correct household, misunderstanding of the questions by either the interviewer or the respondent, and data entry errors. Although numerous efforts were made during the implementation of the 2015 Afghanistan Demographic and Health Survey (2015 AfDHS) to minimize this type of error, nonsampling errors are impossible to avoid and difficult to evaluate statistically.

Sampling errors, on the other hand, can be evaluated statistically. The sample of respondents selected in the 2015 AfDHS is only one of many samples that could have been selected from the same population, using the same design and expected size. Each of these samples would yield results that differ somewhat from the results of the actual sample selected. Sampling errors are a measure of the variability among all possible samples. Although the degree of variability is not known exactly, it can be estimated from the survey results.

Sampling error is usually measured in terms of the standard error for a particular statistic (mean, percentage, etc.), which is the square root of the variance. The standard error can be used to calculate confidence intervals within which the true value for the population can reasonably be assumed to fall. For example, for any given statistic calculated from a sample survey, the value of that statistic will fall within a range of plus or minus two times the standard error of that statistic in 95% of all possible samples of identical size and design.

If the sample of respondents had been selected as a simple random sample, it would have been possible to use straightforward formulas for calculating sampling errors. However, the 2015 AfDHS sample is the result of a multi-stage stratified design, and, consequently, it was necessary to use more complex formulas. Sampling errors are computed by SAS programs developed by ICF. These programs use the Taylor linearization method to estimate variances for survey estimates that are means,

Extrapolated population size and prevalence estimates for male and female people who inject drugs (PWID) in the adult population (15–64 years old) in major cities in Afghanistan, and at the national level in 2019 (adjusted for winter seasonality effect).

Number of men and women who inject drugs and male to total ratio estimated by key informants and wisdom of the crowds methods, by city, Afghanistan, 2019.

Number of interviews, hotspots visited, and unique objects distributed to estimate the number of people who inject drugs (PWID) in different cities in Afghanistan, 2019.

Afghanistan Mortality Rate: Under-5: Female: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 51.600 Ratio in 2023. This records a decrease from the previous number of 53.400 Ratio for 2022. Afghanistan Mortality Rate: Under-5: Female: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 167.050 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 345.700 Ratio in 1960 and a record low of 51.600 Ratio in 2023. Afghanistan Mortality Rate: Under-5: Female: per 1000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Under-five mortality rate, female is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn female baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to female age-specific mortality rates of the specified year.;Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.;Weighted average;Given that data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Moreover, they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Under-five mortality rates are higher for boys than for girls in countries in which parental gender preferences are insignificant. Under-five mortality captures the effect of gender discrimination better than infant mortality does, as malnutrition and medical interventions have more significant impacts to this age group. Where female under-five mortality is higher, girls are likely to have less access to resources than boys. Aggregate data for LIC, UMC, LMC, HIC are computed based on the groupings for the World Bank fiscal year in which the data was released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. This is a sex-disaggregated indicator for Sustainable Development Goal 3.2.1 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

Afghanistan Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data was reported at 66.035 Year in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 65.617 Year for 2022. Afghanistan Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data is updated yearly, averaging 46.045 Year from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 66.035 Year in 2023 and a record low of 31.473 Year in 1984. Afghanistan Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.;(1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2024 Revision; or derived from male and female life expectancy at birth from sources such as: (2) Statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices; (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics.;Weighted average;

出生时性别比例：新生儿男女比例在12-01-2023达1.051Ratio，相较于12-01-2022的1.052Ratio有所下降。出生时性别比例：新生儿男女比例数据按年更新，12-01-1960至12-01-2023期间平均值为1.053Ratio，共64份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于12-01-2003，达1.065Ratio，而历史最低值则出现于12-01-1971，为1.049Ratio。CEIC提供的出生时性别比例：新生儿男女比例数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于World Bank，数据归类于全球数据库的阿富汗 – Table AF.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics。