The UNDP reports that nine in 10 Afghan households are reducing meals or taking on debt as about 4.5 million returnees since 2023 overwhelm services in poor eastern and northern areas. A survey of over 48,000 households found more than 90% of returnees have debt while average monthly income is around $100. Rents have tripled, many live in tents, and 18% were displaced again; UNDP urges urgent, area-based recovery and highlights how restrictions on women’s work — now around 6% labour participation — worsen the crisis.
UNDP: Nine in Ten Afghan Households Skip Meals or Take on Debt as 4.5M Returnees Overwhelm Services
The UNDP reports that nine in 10 Afghan households are reducing meals or taking on debt as about 4.5 million returnees since 2023 overwhelm services in poor eastern and northern areas. A survey of over 48,000 households found more than 90% of returnees have debt while average monthly income is around $100. Rents have tripled, many live in tents, and 18% were displaced again; UNDP urges urgent, area-based recovery and highlights how restrictions on women’s work — now around 6% labour participation — worsen the crisis.
05:24 PM, 11/12/2025Society
UNDP: Afghan returnees push families into hunger and debt
Nine out of 10 households in Afghanistan are cutting meals or taking on debt as roughly 4.5 million people who returned since 2023 strain already-impoverished communities in the country’s east and north, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says.
Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, weakened by aid reductions, international sanctions and repeated natural disasters — including a deadly earthquake in August — is struggling to absorb the influx. About 1.5 million people were forced back this year from Pakistan and Iran amid intensified efforts by those countries to expel Afghan migrants.
A UNDP report based on a survey of more than 48,000 households found that returnees face acute economic insecurity: more than half of returnee households are skipping medical care to pay for food, and over 90% have incurred debt. Typical debts range from about $373 to $900, while average monthly income for many families is roughly $100.
Housing is also a growing crisis. Rents have tripled in many areas, more than half of respondents reported insufficient living space or bedding, and 18% said they had been displaced for a second time within the past year. In western districts such as Injil and Guzara, the UNDP notes, most returnees are sheltering in tents or severely degraded structures.
"Area-based recovery works," said Stephen Rodriques, UNDP resident representative in Afghanistan. "By linking income opportunities, basic services, housing and social cohesion, it is possible to ease pressure on high-return districts and reduce the risk of secondary displacement."
Humanitarian funding for Afghanistan has fallen sharply as the country continues to suffer the long-term effects of decades of conflict and the upheaval following the United States’ withdrawal in 2021. Donor nations have fallen short of the $3.1 billion the UN requested for Afghanistan this year.
The Taliban administration has appealed for international humanitarian assistance following the earthquake and has formally protested Pakistan’s mass expulsions of Afghan nationals, saying it is deeply concerned about their treatment.
The UNDP also warned that shrinking economic opportunities for women are compounding the crisis. Women’s participation in Afghanistan’s labour force has dropped to roughly 6%, among the lowest rates globally. Restrictions on women's movement and work make it nearly impossible for many female heads of household to access employment, education or healthcare — yet in some provinces one in four households depends on women as the main breadwinner.
"Afghanistan’s returnee and host communities are under immense strain," said Kanni Wignaraja, UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP regional director for Asia and the Pacific. "Cutting women out of front-line teams means cutting off vital services for those who need them most, including returnees and victims of natural disasters."
The UNDP called for urgent, area-focused support to restore livelihoods, expand basic services and stabilise housing in districts receiving large numbers of returnees.