About nine in 10 Afghans view their lives poorly enough to be classified as suffering, a new poll found.
The Gallup survey showed that 85 percent of Afghans saw themselves suffering in 2018, the highest level since the poll was first taken in 2008.
According to the poll, for the second consecutive year in 2018, no Afghans rated their current and future lives positively enough to be considered “thriving.” At the same time, the percentage who rated their lives so poorly that they are considered “suffering” shot to a record-high 85%. This is a new record not only for Afghanistan, but also for the world. The country also led the world in suffering in 2013, 2014 and 2017.
Asked to rate their lives from zero to 10, Afghans gave an average rating of 2.7 in 2018, the lowest Gallup has recorded in any country since it began tracking these measures. Asked where they would stand in five years, their average response was 2.3.
According to the survey, majority of Afghans said they worried a lot the previous day. Just over one in three Afghans (36%) said they smiled or laughed a lot the previous day, down from 52% in 2016.
Gallup classified respondents as thriving, struggling or suffering according to how they rated their current and future lives.
“Lacking safety and security, Afghans have had little opportunity to improve their economic status or rebuild critical infrastructure, such as roads, schools and healthcare facilities,” Gallup said. “Conflict in the countryside has led hundreds of thousands of Afghans to flee their homes, leading to an influx of displaced people in urban centers such as Kabul, where poverty and unemployment are rampant,” it added.
These conditions are the context for Afghans’ record-low levels of both wellbeing and hope for the future. It is difficult to foresee the implications that current events may have for the population’s wellbeing over the long-term, Gallup said.
