# Afghanistan and Iran compared

Afghanistan and Iran side by side: 41 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 2 events their chronicles record of each other.

Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/afg-vs-irn
Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates)

Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation.

## Formation

- Afghanistan: 1747 — Ahmad Shah Durrani founds the Durrani Empire
- Iran: 550 BCE — Cyrus the Great founds the Achaemenid Empire

## Economy

| Metric | Afghanistan | Observed | Iran | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP | $17 B | 2023 | $475 B | 2024 |
| GDP per capita | $414 | 2023 | $5,190 | 2024 |
| GDP growth | 2.3% | 2023 | 3.7% | 2024 |
| Inflation | -6.6% | 2024 | 32.5% | 2024 |
| Trade openness | 67.6% | 2023 | 52.1% | 2024 |

## Society

| Metric | Afghanistan | Observed | Iran | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 43 m | 2024 | 92 m | 2024 |
| Life expectancy | 66.3 yrs | 2024 | 77.9 yrs | 2024 |
| Urban population | 25.7% | 2024 | 77.0% | 2024 |
| Fertility rate | 4.8 | 2024 | 1.7 | 2024 |

## Governance

| Metric | Afghanistan | Observed | Iran | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voice & accountability | 19.2 | 2024 | 29.7 | 2024 |
| Political stability | 28.2 | 2024 | 38.9 | 2024 |
| Government effectiveness | 13.7 | 2024 | 37.6 | 2024 |
| Regulatory quality | 30.6 | 2024 | 31.0 | 2024 |
| Rule of law | 23.7 | 2024 | 35.7 | 2024 |
| Control of corruption | 21.4 | 2024 | 24.6 | 2024 |

## Health

| Metric | Afghanistan | Observed | Iran | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health spending | 15.0% | 2023 | 6.0% | 2023 |
| Physicians | 0.32 | 2023 | 1.81 | 2023 |
| Under-5 mortality | 53.0 | 2024 | 11.3 | 2024 |
| Measles immunisation | 55.0% | 2024 | 99.0% | 2024 |
| Safe drinking water | 30.6% | 2024 | 94.4% | 2024 |

## Education

| Metric | Afghanistan | Observed | Iran | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult literacy | 37.3% | 2021 | 88.9% | 2023 |
| Education spending | 4.3% | 2017 | 2.8% | 2023 |
| Primary enrolment | 112.2% | 2023 | 102.0% | 2023 |
| Secondary enrolment | 59.6% | 2023 | 85.1% | 2023 |
| Tertiary enrolment | 10.9% | 2020 | 58.7% | 2022 |

## Technology

| Metric | Afghanistan | Observed | Iran | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internet users | 16.1% | 2024 | 85.3% | 2024 |
| Mobile subscriptions | 60 | 2024 | 174 | 2024 |
| High-tech exports | 0.0% | 2019 | 0.8% | 2022 |
| R&D spending | — | — | 0.7% | 2021 |
| Researchers (per million) | — | — | 2,240 | 2021 |

## Geography

| Metric | Afghanistan | Observed | Iran | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Land area | 652,230 km² | 2023 | 1,622,500 km² | 2023 |
| Forest area | 1.9% | 2023 | 6.6% | 2023 |
| Agricultural land | 58.4% | 2023 | 29.0% | 2023 |
| CO₂ per capita (t) | 0.3 | 2024 | 9.1 | 2024 |
| Renewable energy | 20.0% | 2022 | 0.9% | 2021 |

## Resources

| Metric | Afghanistan | Observed | Iran | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resource rents | 0.4% | 2021 | 30.4% | 2021 |
| Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 18.3% | 2021 |
| Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 3.4% | 2021 |
| Forest rents | 0.4% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 |
| Electricity access | 85.3% | 2023 | 100.0% | 2023 |
| Iron ore | — | — | 93 Mt | 2025 |

## Military

| Metric | Afghanistan | Observed | Iran | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Military burden | 1.8% | 2021 | 2.0% | 2024 |
| Defense spending | $278 M | 2021 | $7.9 B | 2024 |
| Armed forces | 165,000 | 2020 | 650,000 | 2020 |

Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/<metric>.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/AFG.md and https://terralore.co/country/IRN.md.

## Entangled histories (2 events)

Events in which either nation's sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the record exactly as its own chronicle carries it, with that chronicle's sources.

- c. 642 CE: **Arab conquest and the coming of Islam** — Arab Muslim forces take Herat in the wake of the conquest of Persia, beginning the gradual and long-contested Islamisation of the Afghan lands. (from the Afghanistan chronicle; sources: Afghanistan — The first Muslim dynasties; Afghanistan: A Country Study)
- 998–1030 CE: **Mahmud of Ghazni and the Ghaznavid empire** — Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni builds a vast empire from Afghanistan into Iran and India and turns his capital Ghazni into a centre of Islamic culture and learning. (from the Afghanistan chronicle; sources: Ghaznavid dynasty; Maḥmūd — sultan of Ghazna)

## Sources

- World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org
- Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators
- Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho
- Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org
- R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org
- ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics
- Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex
- Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 — U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain (U.S. Government work) · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center

Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/AFG/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/IRN/chronicle.md.

Citation template: Terralore, "Afghanistan and Iran compared", terralore.co/compare/afg-vs-irn, retrieved <YYYY-MM-DD>.