Migration in Afghanistan has been arelevant phenomenon during the last several decades, drivenby a complex combination of protracted conflict, foodinsecurity, natural disasters, and socioeconomic factors.Around 4.8 million Afghan currently live abroad, most ofthem in neighboring Iran and Pakistan. While prior migrationwaves consisted of refugees to a large extent, in the lastdecade economic migrants have been increasingly prevalent,not only to Iran but also to Gulf Cooperation Council andOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Developmentcountries. Due to the lack of formal mechanisms formigration, however, the vast majority of flows have anirregular nature. As a consequence, official statisticsvastly underestimate the value of remittances at 1.7 percentof GDP, while analysis that includes informal channels raisethis figure by up to 10 times. Overall, although arelatively small share of families benefits fromremittances, they provide a vital source of income and actas a buffer against income shocks.
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