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Highlights
Food Items: Price data collected during the third week of May 2025 shows an overall decline in food prices compared to last week however, the value of Afghani against the US Dollar remain unchanged. On a year-on-year basis, prices of cooking oil and salt are higher by 19% and 21%, meanwhile the rest of food items prices have declined. Moreover, food prices remain elevated compared to the prices during June 2021 —excluding wheat grain, wheat flour and cooking oil prices.
The price table presents the national average prices of key food and non-food commodities. However, prices vary significantly across provinces due to factors such as market size, transportation, remoteness, and proximity to borders. Provinces located near borders often benefit from lower prices as they have easier access to imported goods. Large provincial markets, where most imports are distributed, typically serve as supply hubs for other provinces, leading to further price variations based on distance and supply chain costs.
Food Basket: The national average WFP in-kind food basket price experienced a slight 1.0% decline from last week and 0.9% year-on-year decline. However, it remains 7% above pre-COVID levels. The FSAC food basket, revised to 5,800 AFN in May 2024, shows a 6.5% decline from the revised transfer value, which does not meet the threshold to trigger a revision.
Vegetable Items: Vegetable prices showed a week-on-week decline, driven by increased market supply from local production.
Compared to the same period last year, Tomato and Potato prices are lower by 7% and 9%, respectively, while Onion prices are up by 6%. Prices vary across provinces; as of May 2025, Tomato prices ranged from 18–60 AFN/kg, Potato from 17–30 AFN/kg, and Onion from 9–30 AFN/kg.
Labour Market and NFIs: The national average labour availability for casual workers is 2.4 days of work per week, with the unskilled labour wage averaging AFN 314 per day. However, labour availability remains lower than pre-Covid and June 2021 levels, highlighting persistent gaps in work opportunities. Prices of key agricultural inputs, including fertilizers (DAP and Urea) and improved seeds experienced negligible week-on-week changes. Similarly, year-on-year changes indicate a slight decline in the prices of DAP, Urea, and Improved seeds.
Diesel: The national average diesel price stood at 56.8 AFN per litre during the third week of May 2025, reflecting a negligible increase of 0.2% from the previous week but declined by 6% compared to the same time last year. On the global market, the average diesel price declined to $1.18 per litre, down from $1.19 during April 2025.