Afghanistan: Only 5% of labor market are women under Taliban

The share of women in Afghanistan 's labor market has falled to around one worker in 20 in the five years since the Taliban returned to power, according to a report published by the International Labour Organization (ILO) on Tuesday .

"Afghanistan is estimated to have the second lowest female labor force participation rate worldwide, at only 5.1% in 2026, against the backdrop of severe restrictions in women's access to education and employment," the ILO wrote.

It called for urgent steps to counter women's " severe exclusion ," also saying this was essential to buttress the Afghan economy's resilience more generally.

The Taliban rapidly returned to power in August 2021 amid a pullout by the US and other NATO forces, ending a 20-year period when women enjoyed comparatively improved economic and educational liberty after years of hardline Islamist rule.

The UN organization warned of "significant demographic and institutional changes" in the labor market since 2021, many of them disadvantaging women.

"Afghanistan cannot build a resilient labor market while such a large share of its population remains excluded from economic activity," said Tite Habiyakare, senior coordinator and head of the ILO office for Afghanistan.

The report said that Afghanistan's labor market remained "under considerable pressure" five years after the Taliban takeover, having only moderately recovered from the crash of 2021.

Afghanistan's GDP tumbled by around 15% when the Taliban returned amid the COVID pandemic and western troops and funds flowed out. It remained deep in negative territory in 2022 and had just barely clawed its way into positive growth territory since, falling well short of returning to its pre-Taliban levels.