Daily wagers in the city of Herat. Sept. 2022.
The purchasing power of Afghanistan’s unskilled laborers has fallen 25% from a year ago, as limited work opportunities, lower wages and elevated food prices continue to strain household access to food, the World Food Program said in a new report.
WFP’s latest weekly market report, covering the first week of October, shows that unskilled workers found work for an average of only two days a week, 14% fewer than a year earlier and 21% below the three-year average.
According to the report, the average daily wage for an unskilled worker stood at 295 afghanis ($4.5), down 5% from a year ago and 6% below the three-year average. When adjusted for the number of available workdays and the price of low-cost wheat flour, workers’ real purchasing power was 25% lower than last year and 30% below the three-year average.
WFP said the continued deterioration reflected sustained pressure on labor income relative to food prices.
The decline comes as several staple foods remain considerably more expensive than a year ago, despite relatively modest price changes during the first week of October.
According to the report, lower-cost Sholae rice was 31% more expensive than a year ago, while Palawi rice was up 17%. Cooking oil prices were 12% higher, while wheat grain and low-price wheat flour were both up 10%. Sugar also cost 10% more than a year earlier.
Potatoes were 25% more expensive than last year and 23% above their three-year average, although their price declined 4.1% during the week, the report says.
Other commodities recorded declines. Pulses were 12% cheaper than a year ago, bread was down 3%, tomatoes were 55% cheaper and onions were down 6%, according to the report.
Fuel and agricultural input costs also remained elevated, adding pressure to transportation, production and supply chains, WFP said.
WFP said that diesel averaged 80.9 afghanis per liter, 3% higher than a year ago and 14% above the three-year average.
Fertilizer costs showed even larger increases. Diammonium phosphate, or DAP, was 10% more expensive than last year, while urea prices were 24% higher and 18% above their three-year average, the report said.
Livestock-dependent households also experienced weaker purchasing power. WFP said a pastoralist selling a one-year-old female sheep could buy about 260 kilograms of low-price wheat flour, 12% less than a year ago and 7% below the three-year average.
Meanwhile, the afghani traded at about 64.9 to the U.S. dollar, remaining broadly unchanged from the previous week. The currency was 2% stronger than a year ago and 7% stronger than its three-year average, helping limit some of the pressure on imported commodity prices.
WFP’s in-kind food basket cost 5,437 afghanis in the first week of October, about 4% more than a year earlier. The cash food basket was valued at 6,033 afghanis, 4% above the transfer value set in October 2025 but still below the threshold for a revision.
The report showed significant differences in commodity prices across Afghanistan. For example, wheat grain ranged from 23 to 34 afghanis per kilogram across provincial markets, while Palawi rice ranged from 98 to 150 afghanis per kilogram.
WFP collects weekly price information through third-party monitors in all 34 provincial capitals, tracking food prices, wages, labor availability, fuel, agricultural inputs and other indicators.
The agency said weak labor availability and subdued purchasing power continued to constrain households’ ability to access food, even as national average prices showed only limited changes from the previous week.