Average Salary in Afghanistan: 2026 Wages & Insights

Afghanistan comes up a lot in the news. Maybe it hit your radar for a different reason, but when you start looking into the labor markets, you find yourself thinking seriously about hiring there. Pretty soon, you’ll be asking the question: What does the average salary in Afghanistan look like?

Here is the honest answer—the number alone doesn’t help much.

Pay in Afghanistan depends heavily on where someone works, which sector funds the role, and whether the job sits inside the formal economy at all. If you want to benchmark compensation or plan hiring responsibly, you need the context behind the figures, so let’s take a look.

Economic and local job factors affecting the average salary in Afghanistan

When people talk about the average salary in Afghanistan, they are usually describing a narrow slice of the workforce. The reality on the ground is much more complex.

A workforce split across very different realities

Afghanistan’s labor market centers around a few distinct employment paths, and each one pays very differently. Data from the World Bank shows how closely wages are tied to sector concentration and donor-funded activity

• Agriculture. A large share of the population earns income through farming and livestock. Much of this work is informal or subsistence-based, which means it rarely appears in official wage data. 
• Urban services and trade. Cities such as Kabul, Herat, and Mazar-i-Sharif offer more formal roles in education, administration, logistics, and retail. These jobs tend to pay more because competition for skilled workers is higher. 
• Aid-funded and international roles. Positions tied to NGOs, humanitarian organizations, and donor-funded projects often sit at the top end of the pay range and are typically more stable.

This divide explains why reported averages can feel misleading. A national monthly figure of around US$200 reflects only part of the labor market. A project coordinator in Kabul and a rural agricultural worker are operating in completely different economic realities.

Why location matters so much

Where someone works often matters more than what they do. Kabul generally offers the highest wages because it concentrates government offices, private employers, and international organizations. Rural regions depend more on seasonal or informal work, where cash wages are lower and less predictable (and sometimes less reported).

For employers, this means national averages are only a starting point. Realistic pay decisions depend on city, sector, and seniority.

Foreign aid and economic pressure points

International funding remains a key stabilizer for income in sectors like healthcare, education, and logistics. This funding supports jobs, helping stabilize wages in those sectors.

At the same time, limited private investment, restricted access to global banking, and ongoing instability put pressure on local businesses. Outside of aid-linked roles, employers often have little room to raise pay, even when skilled talent is available.

Skills shortages drive pay gaps

Years of disruption have affected education and workforce development. As a result, experienced professionals in areas like IT, engineering, finance, and project management are in short supply. Employers competing for this talent often pay well above the national average.

That is how wide salary ranges emerge inside a single market. The average hides more than it reveals unless you understand what sits underneath it.

Benchmarking Afghanistan against neighboring countries

Looking beyond Afghanistan’s borders helps put wage levels into perspective. 

Compared with its neighbors, Afghanistan consistently sits at the lower end of the wage spectrum. Decades of conflict, a smaller formal economy, and limited industrial development all contribute to that gap.

What the average salary really tells you

In Afghanistan, average wage figures mainly reflect formal employment, even though a large portion of the population earns income through informal or subsistence work. Broader labor force indicators from World Bank country data show how much economic activity sits outside formal wage reporting.

For global employers, averages work best as directional signals. Useful for comparisons, but not precise enough for setting pay without local context.

Minimum wage and common incomes

If you are evaluating pay in Afghanistan, averages are only part of the equation.

Minimum wage realities

Afghanistan does not have a consistently enforced private-sector minimum wage. Public-sector roles generally follow government pay scales, while private employers operate with much more flexibility. This uneven structure is one reason wages vary widely across industries.

Common income patterns

A few trends appear consistently across available data:

• Teachers and education staff. Pay depends on qualifications, employer, and location, with urban roles paying more than rural ones. 
• Technical and professional roles. IT specialists, engineers, and project managers often earn significantly more than national averages, especially on internationally funded projects. 
• Informal and agricultural work. Income is frequently seasonal and unstable, sitting well below formal-sector averages.

Understanding these patterns helps avoid false comparisons when planning compensation.

Tips and resources for hiring and paying employees in Afghanistan

Once you move from analysis to action, the practical challenges come into focus.

Practical tips before you hire

• Benchmark locally. National averages are not enough. Always account for city, role, and funding source. 
• Plan payroll carefully. Banking access, currency volatility, and payment logistics can affect how and when employees are paid. 
• Follow local rules. Employment contracts and payroll practices should align with local regulations and norms, even when enforcement varies.

How an Employer of Record (EOR) can help

An employer of record is a third-party company that legally employs workers on your behalf in a specific country. This allows you to hire quickly and compliantly without setting up a separate local entity. You manage the day-to-day work, while the EOR handles employment contracts, payroll, taxes, benefits, and all local compliance. 

Making sense of Afghanistan’s salary landscape

Afghanistan’s average salary becomes meaningful only when you understand the forces behind it. Sector, location, foreign funding, and skills availability all shape what people earn.

If you are comparing markets or planning compensation, the goal is not to find a single correct number. It is to understand the context well enough to make fair, informed decisions that will attract the best talent for your expansion goals.

How Pebl helps hire and pay in Afghanistan

Hiring in Afghanistan doesn’t mean you have to figure everything out on your own. 

If you partner with Pebl, we make it easy.

As your employer of record in Afghanistan, we take care of hiring, work authorization, payroll, compliance, and putting together appropriate salary and benefits packages so you get the best talent you can afford. You focus on the work that matters; we handle the paperwork. Whether you are hiring one specialist or building a distributed team, you get local insight backed by global infrastructure in Afghanistan and 185+ countries worldwide.

When you’re ready to expand the easy way, get in touch.

This information does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal or tax advice and is for general informational purposes only. The intent of this document is solely to provide general and preliminary information for private use. Do not rely on it as an alternative to legal, financial, taxation, or accountancy advice from an appropriately qualified professional. The content in this guide is provided as is, and no representations are made that the content is error-free. 

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