Afghanistan's economy is recovering from decades of conflict.
The economy has improved significantly since the fall of the
Taliban regime in 2001 largely because of the infusion of
international assistance, the recovery of the agricultural
sector, and service sector growth. Real GDP growth exceeded 7%
in 2007. Despite the progress of the past few years, Afghanistan
is extremely poor, landlocked, and highly dependent on foreign
aid, agriculture, and trade with neighboring countries. Much of
the population continues to suffer from shortages of housing,
clean water, electricity, medical care, and jobs. Criminality,
insecurity, and the Afghan Government's inability to extend rule
of law to all parts of the country pose challenges to future
economic growth. It will probably take the remainder of the
decade and continuing donor aid and attention to significantly
raise Afghanistan's living standards from its current level,
among the lowest in the world. While the international community
remains committed to Afghanis