Afghanistan Freedom Movement
Taliban fighters on a captured Humvee in Kabul, 17 August 2021

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Afghanistan Before & After

2001, 2021 and today, side by side.

The key indicators under the first Taliban era, the Republic and Taliban rule since 2021, followed by a timeline of the events that shaped them.

Photo: Voice of America, Public domain

Key indicators

Indicator~2001 (1st Taliban era)Republic peak/late (2019–2021)Taliban era latest (2024–2026)Direction
Girls in school"Virtually none" (UNESCO); ~3% of girls in some primary education>80% of primary-age girls enrolled; ~1 million girls in secondary (2021)Secondary & university banned; 2.4 million girls excluded (UNESCO, Aug 2026)⬇⬇ Collapse
Total school enrollment~1 million~10 million (2018); primary 6.8m (2019)Primary 5.7m (2022)⬇
Women in higher education~5,000>100,000 (2021)0 (ban since Dec 2022)⬇⬇
Women in parliamentNone (no parliament)27% constitutional quota (68 of 250 Wolesi Jirga seats)0 — parliament abolished; no women in cabinet⬇⬇
Female labour-force participationVery low (work largely banned)Rising; women ~a fifth+ of civil service24.2% vs 88.9% men (UN Women 2024 Index)1⬇
GDP per capita (current US$)~$186 (2002)$510.8 (2020)$357 (2022) → $484 (2024) → $467 (2025e)⬇ then partial recovery
Real GDP growth—9.4% avg 2003–12; 3.9% (2019)−20.7% (2021), −6.2% (2022), +2.3% (2023), +2.5% (2024), +4.3% (2025p)2⬇ then ↗
Maternal mortality (per 100,000 live births)~1,450 (2000)638 (2017); 620 (2020, WHO)No independent national survey; Taliban MoPH cites ~638↗ then stalled/at risk
Civilian casualties (UNAMA)—10,401 (2019); 8,820 (2020); 5,183 in H1 2021 alone108 in Q1 2025; spike from Pakistan strikes since Oct 2025⬇⬇ (improvement)
Opium cultivation~8,000 ha (2001 Taliban ban year)177,000–232,000 ha range (2021–22)10,200 ha (2025)⬇⬇ (improvement in narcotics terms)
Press freedom rank (RSF)Near bottom122nd (2021)175th of 180 (2026)⬇⬇
Corruption Perceptions Index (TI)Not rankedRank 165, score 19 (2020)Rank 169 of 182, score 16 (2025)≈ / slight ⬇
People in humanitarian need—~18.4m (2021 HRP)23.7m (2024), 22.9m (2025),34 ~22m (2026)⬆
Acute food insecurity (IPC 3+)—22.8m peak (late 2021)17.4m (Nov 2025–Mar 2026)⬆ from Republic norm; below 2021 peak
International recognition3 states (Pakistan, Saudi, UAE)5UN-seated, widely recognisedRecognised only by Russia (July 2025);6 UN seat held by Republic-era envoy⬇

Data-quality note: Taliban-era figures depend heavily on UN agency estimates, the World Bank's surveys, and data from Taliban ministries that can't be independently verified. Data from National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA) after 2021 is used by the World Bank but has not been independently audited. Where figures conflict, both are shown.

Timeline, 2001–2026

  1. US-led intervention; Taliban regime falls; Bonn Agreement (Dec 2001)

  2. 2004 Constitution adopted: equal rights for men and women, 27% women's quota in lower house

  3. First presidential election; Karzai wins; 8.13m votes cast7

  4. First parliamentary elections

  5. EVAW (Elimination of Violence Against Women) law decreed; presidential election marred by mass fraud

  6. Disputed presidential runoff → US-brokered National Unity Government (Ghani/Abdullah)

  7. NATO combat mission ends; Resolute Support begins

  8. Civilian casualties exceed 10,000/year every year (UNAMA)

  9. Presidential election; only ~1.8m valid votes8

  10. US–Taliban Doha Agreement

  11. Kabul falls; Ghani flees; Republic collapses

  12. Ministry of Women's Affairs abolished; Ministry for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice re-established;9 all-male interim cabinet

  13. ~$9bn central bank reserves frozen abroad; aid halted; economy contracts 20.7%

  14. Election commissions, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Peace ministry dissolved; women barred from long-distance travel without mahram

  15. Girls' secondary schools fail to reopen — de facto ban

  16. Opium poppy cultivation ban decreed

  17. Mandatory face covering decree; AIHRC dissolved

  18. Paktika/Khost earthquake

  19. $3.5bn of frozen reserves moved to Swiss-based "Afghan Fund"

  20. Women barred from parks, gyms, public baths; Supreme Leader orders full implementation of hudud/qisas punishments

  21. Women banned from universities10

  22. Women banned from working for NGOs

  23. Ban extended to Afghan women working for the UN

  24. Beauty salons ordered closed

  25. Herat earthquakes;11 Pakistan launches "Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan"

  26. China accepts first Taliban ambassador6

  27. "Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice" law: women's voices not to be heard in public, full covering, images of living beings restricted

  28. Women barred from medical/nursing/midwifery institutes

  29. US aid freeze; ICC Prosecutor requests arrest warrants (23 Jan)12

  30. Russia removes Taliban from its terrorist list6

  31. Record returns from Iran (256,000+ in June alone)13

  32. Russia formally recognises the Taliban government6

  33. ICC issues arrest warrants for Akhundzada and Chief Justice Haqqani (gender persecution)14

  34. Kunar earthquake, ~2,200 killed15

  35. Fibre-optic bans spread; books by women removed from universities; women blocked from UN premises;9 29 Sept–1 Oct nationwide internet/telecom blackout2161718

  36. Afghanistan–Pakistan border hostilities (10–17 Oct): 47 civilians killed, 456 injured19

  37. Renewed Pakistani airstrikes; UNAMA verifies at least 269 civilians killed in Q1 202620

  38. Five-year mark: UNESCO says 2.4 million girls barred from secondary school21