Why Afghanistan's Groth is a a Barrier to Stability
The Population Paradox: Why Afghanistan's Growth Is a Barrier to Stability Afghanistan cannot even agree with itself on how many people live within its borders. On July 11, 2026, marking World Population Day, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) put the country's population at 48.6 million. The Taliban's own National Statistics and Information Authority, using a different methodology, put the figure at 37.2 million — a gap of more than 11 million people. Independent demographic models, including the UN Population Division's World Population Prospects, converge closer to 45 million. That the country's rulers and the international community cannot settle on a shared set of facts is itself a symptom of the crisis: a state too fractured to count its own citizens is unlikely to be able to employ, educate, or feed them. In aging societies such as Japan or Germany, population growth is often welcomed as a remedy for shrinking workforces and decl...