Half of Afghanistan’s Population Projected to Live in Urban Areas by 2060, UN Reports
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) has announced that, based on its projections, by the year 2060, half of Afghanistan’s population will reside in urban areas. This assessment indicates that the country’s urbanization trend will continue to rise in the coming decades.
On Monday, April 24th, in a post on the social media platform X, the agency emphasized that Afghanistan will experience continuous urban growth—a trend already observable today.
According to the information provided, cities such as Ghazni, Herat, Fayzabad, Mazar-i-Sharif, and several other provincial centers have seen significant expansion over the past twenty years. This growth has included both population increases and physical development of these cities.
The urbanization trend in Afghanistan over the last two decades has consistently been upward. Experts attribute this migration from villages to cities primarily to ongoing conflicts, successive droughts, insecurity, and widespread poverty—factors that have also impacted the country’s social and economic structures.
With this situation continuing, the need for urban planning, provision of essential services, and effective management of urban areas becomes increasingly critical—a matter that currently requires serious attention and action from responsible institutions.
