Country Reports

Afghanistan

Highlights

  1. Out of the 1000 most-visited websites, 15% can be reached on a local server or cache in Afghanistan. This falls below Internet Society's target of 50%.
  2. In Afghanistan, there is 1 data center and there is 1 active IXP.
  3. Approximately 18% of the population is an Internet user.
  4. Afghanistan received a security preparedness score of 5.20 on the 2023 Global Cybersecurity Index. Its e-government system readiness score is 58%.
  5. Internet Society gives Afghanistan an overall Internet resilience score of 33%, which means it has medium capacity to withstand unexpected faults or challenges to normal operation.

Internet Usage Permanent link

Internet penetration

200420062008201020122014201620182020
18%

of the population used the Internet at least once over a 3-month period

74%
Asia average

Average download speed

Based on an average of 300 users

  • 3.15 Mbps

    Broadband

  • 4.99 Mbps

    Mobile

Average Internet cost

201820192020202120222023
10.84%

of average income (GNI) is needed to cover a low-consumption basket, using at least 3G technology.

Network Infrastructure Permanent link

Mobile 4G and 5G coverage

65%

has access to at least one device with 4G mobile Internet

No data

has access to at least one device with 5G mobile Internet

Active networks

The building blocks of the Internet, identified by Autonomous System (AS) numbers.

59

active networks

International connections

Routes to the global Internet

Upstream diversity is

Poor

More than 2 connections to the global Internet improves the ability to recover from unexpected events.

Adoption of IPv6

Jul 2020Jan 2021Jul 2021Jan 2022Jul 2022Jan 2023Jul 2023Jan 2024Jul 2024Jan 2025
2%

of users can access online resources using IPv6, the new generation of the Internet Protocol

21%
Asia average

Market Overview Permanent link

Data centers

Number of data centers in operation

1

active data center

Internet Exchange Points

1

IXP in Afghanistan

6
Asia average
20% of 70

registered networks connect via an IXP

2019202020212022202320242025

Total number of IXP members in Afghanistan

Locally cached content

15%

of the top 1000 websites in Afghanistan can be accessed through an in-country server or cache

51%
Asia average

Top Internet service providers

Top Internet Service Providers (ISPs) by market share

  • GCN-DCN-AS AFGHANTELECOM GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION NETWORK: 26%
  • AWCC-AS-AP Afghan Wireless Communication Company: 16%
  • ROSHAN-AF Main Street, House No. 13 Wazir Akbar Khan: 16%
  • ETISALATAFG-AS-AP Etisalat Afghan: 13%
  • MTNAFGHANISTAN-AS-AP MTNAFGHANISTAN: 8%

Digital public services rating

The UN's measure of a country's e-government ecosystem readiness

21%

Country-level domain use

4,600

domains registered using .af, the country code top-level domain (ccTLD).

Market competition

Excellent

market competitiveness for Internet customers and end users

Security Permanent link

Global Cybersecurity Index

Estimates the ability of a country or economy to prevent and manage cyber incidents

5 / 100

Routing security practices

The use of resource public key infrastructure (RPKI), which connects IP prefixes to the correct autonomous system (AS)

ROA

Route origin authorization uses a cryptographic signature to certify network announcements

  • 73%
    of IPv4 prefixes protected
  • 100%
    of IPv6 prefixes protected

ROV

Route origin validation filters out route announcements

  • 27%
    of networks are using ROV to filter out invalid prefixes and networks

DNSSEC status

  • Active

DNSSEC coverage

0%

of all domains under the ccTLD are protected with DNSSEC

1%
Asia average

Adoption of DNSSEC

59%

of DNS queries are protected by DNSSEC, across all web traffic

42%
Asia average

Footnotes Permanent link

The geographic boundaries and country names shown do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Internet Society concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area of its authorities. Regions and Sub-Regions are taken from the UN Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use (Series M, No. 49).

Pulse uses the most recent possible data from international sources. For some indicators in Pulse, the source data may be updated more frequently. For more information on how often we update individual data points, see the Indicator page.