# Afghanistan and Pakistan compared Afghanistan and Pakistan side by side: 41 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 1 events their chronicles record of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/afg-vs-pak 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 - Pakistan: 14 August 1947 — The Dominion of Pakistan emerges from the partition of British India ## Economy | Metric | Afghanistan | Observed | Pakistan | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $17 B | 2023 | $372 B | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $414 | 2023 | $1,479 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 2.3% | 2023 | 3.0% | 2024 | | Inflation | -6.6% | 2024 | 12.6% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 67.6% | 2023 | 27.6% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | Afghanistan | Observed | Pakistan | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 43 m | 2024 | 251 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 66.3 yrs | 2024 | 67.8 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 25.7% | 2024 | 39.2% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 4.8 | 2024 | 3.5 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Afghanistan | Observed | Pakistan | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 19.2 | 2024 | 36.4 | 2024 | | Political stability | 28.2 | 2024 | 30.6 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 13.7 | 2024 | 39.7 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 30.6 | 2024 | 42.4 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 23.7 | 2024 | 39.5 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 21.4 | 2024 | 26.3 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Afghanistan | Observed | Pakistan | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 15.0% | 2023 | 2.5% | 2023 | | Physicians | 0.32 | 2023 | 1.16 | 2021 | | Under-5 mortality | 53.0 | 2024 | 56.0 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 55.0% | 2024 | 86.0% | 2024 | | Safe drinking water | 30.6% | 2024 | 45.0% | 2024 | ## Education | Metric | Afghanistan | Observed | Pakistan | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Adult literacy | 37.3% | 2021 | 58.9% | 2021 | | Education spending | 4.3% | 2017 | 1.9% | 2023 | | Primary enrolment | 112.2% | 2023 | 83.7% | 2024 | | Secondary enrolment | 59.6% | 2023 | 48.3% | 2024 | | Tertiary enrolment | 10.9% | 2020 | 10.9% | 2024 | ## Technology | Metric | Afghanistan | Observed | Pakistan | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Internet users | 16.1% | 2024 | 57.3% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 60 | 2024 | 77 | 2024 | | High-tech exports | 0.0% | 2019 | 2.4% | 2024 | | R&D spending | — | — | 0.2% | 2023 | | Researchers (per million) | — | — | 474 | 2023 | ## Geography | Metric | Afghanistan | Observed | Pakistan | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 652,230 km² | 2023 | 770,880 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 1.9% | 2023 | 4.7% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 58.4% | 2023 | 46.7% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 0.3 | 2024 | 0.8 | 2024 | | Renewable energy | 20.0% | 2022 | 41.6% | 2021 | ## Resources | Metric | Afghanistan | Observed | Pakistan | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 0.4% | 2021 | 1.4% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.4% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.1% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 0.4% | 2021 | 0.1% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 85.3% | 2023 | 95.6% | 2023 | ## Military | Metric | Afghanistan | Observed | Pakistan | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 1.8% | 2021 | 2.7% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $278 M | 2021 | $10 B | 2024 | | Armed forces | 165,000 | 2020 | 943,000 | 2020 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/AFG.md and https://terralore.co/country/PAK.md. ## Entangled histories (1 event) 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. - 1893: **The Durand Line drawn** — Amir Abdur Rahman Khan agrees the Durand Line with British India, fixing a frontier that divides Pashtun communities and remains a source of dispute with Pakistan to this day. (from the Afghanistan chronicle; sources: Afghanistan: A Country Study; Afghanistan — history) ## 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 Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/AFG/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/PAK/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Afghanistan and Pakistan compared", terralore.co/compare/afg-vs-pak, retrieved .