Food and fuel prices in Afghanistan: flour, rice, oil and diesel, and how to read them

Photo: Zb travel

Where the numbers come from

The WFP records retail prices in the markets of all 34 provinces about once a month. The site's prices page shows them: for each item, the median of the provincial markets, then each province. The median is the middle price, so a few very dear or very cheap markets do not pull it. The latest round began on 15 October 2026.

Read a price like this:

• Look at the unit. Flour, rice, oil and sugar are priced per kilogram, diesel per litre. Oil is sold by the kilogram in these figures, not the litre.
• Compare with the same month a year ago, not only with last month. Some prices rise and fall with the seasons.
• Look at your own province. The national median is not your market's price.
• Prices are in afghanis. To compare with dollars or tomans, use the rate page instead of an old conversion.

What things cost in October 2026

National medians in the round that began on 15 October 2026 (WFP, retail):

• Wheat flour, high quality: 32 afghanis a kilogram.
• Rice, high quality: 120 afghanis a kilogram.
• Cooking oil: 120 afghanis a kilogram.
• Sugar: 60 afghanis a kilogram.
• Diesel: 80 afghanis a litre.
• Bread: 50 afghanis a kilogram.
• Pulses: 83 afghanis a kilogram.

Photo: Syed F Hashemi

Bread has hardly changed in two years: the same median series shows 52 afghanis in October 2025 and 50 now.

Do prices rise in winter?

Not every item, and not every year. Here is the change in the national median from the October round to the January round:

• Flour (high quality): down 11% in 2023/24, up 0.4% in 2024/25, up 4% in 2025/26.
• Rice (high quality): down 12%, up 8%, up 34%.
• Cooking oil: down 6%, up 16%, up 19%.
• Diesel: down 17%, up 0.6%, down 21%.

So the honest answer is: rice and oil rose in the last two winters, flour stayed close to level, and the winter before that all four fell. In 2025/26 diesel was dearest in October (77 afghanis a litre) and fell to 59 by February.

Three winters are too few to make a rule, so do not count on any one pattern repeating.

Why prices moved in 2025 and 2026

The reports give these reasons:

• Trade routes. Amu TV, reporting the WFP in April 2026, wrote that the closure of key border crossings with Pakistan pushed Afghanistan towards routes through Iran and Central Asia, with higher transport costs and longer delivery times. The FAO says the same: flour prices "largely reflect high production and transport cost, compounded by reduced informal trade flows."
• Flour has been steady. The FAO says flour prices rose in late 2025 over concerns about dry weather, then "remained generally stable between January and August 2026", still about 10 to 20 percent above a year earlier in several markets.
• Rice and sugar are up on last year. In April 2026 the WFP found high-quality rice 23 to 45 percent dearer than a year before, and sugar 19 percent. In May it said rice was 41 percent and sugar 31 percent up on the year, and said the week's falls were "driven in part by seasonal harvests and improved market supply."

The series agrees: rice peaked at 147 afghanis in March 2026 and has eased to 120 since. Pulses and bread are cheaper than a year ago.

Prices differ between markets. Before you buy in bulk, compare the seller's price with your province on the prices page, and do not pay in advance to someone you do not know.

Before winter

If you plan a winter purchase, compare your market's price with the national median on the prices page, and see how cold your city gets in winter in Afghan cities. For heating, read how to heat your home safely. For winter dishes and what they use, see Afghan winter foods.