Afghan refugee households in Pakistan are significantly larger and face a higher dependency burden compared to host communities, according to a recent survey by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The report, titled Forced Displacement Survey — Pakistan, 2024, found that refugee households have an average of 8.9 members, while neighbouring host community households average 6.7 members. The national average, as reported by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, is 6.3. This highlights that refugee families tend to be considerably larger than both host community households and the general population.
The survey further reveals that Afghan refugee families carry a substantial dependency burden, with an age dependency ratio of 137, compared to 105 in the host community. This means that for every working-age individual, there are more than one dependent in both groups, a figure that far exceeds the global average of 55. Children under the age of four make up 54 percent of refugee households, compared to 31 percent in the host population, underscoring the disproportionately young profile of refugee families.
Child marriage remains a pressing concern within the refugee community. The survey shows that about five percent of refugee girls are married before the age of 15, and 25 percent before turning 18, meaning one in every four girls is married before reaching adulthood. While child marriage rates are lower in host communities, they remain significant, with two percent of girls married before 15 and 12 percent before 18. According to UNICEF and the World Bank, early marriage is closely associated with poor health outcomes, lower educational attainment, and economic hardship, particularly for vulnerable populations like refugees.
The survey also sheds light on the origins of the refugee population in Pakistan. A majority of Afghan refugees were born in Pakistan, with roughly three-quarters of individuals aged 18 and above having been born in the host country. Only 24 percent, approximately 160,000 people, were born in Afghanistan. Nine in ten refugees have at least one parent who is or was also a refugee. Marriage rates among household heads are high, with 96 percent of male and 60 percent of female refugee heads married, compared to 95 percent of male and 40 percent of female heads in host communities. This pattern indicates that many female-headed households are likely single-parent families.
For over forty years, Pakistan has hosted more than three million Afghan refugees, making it one of the world’s leading refugee-hosting nations. The survey focused on Afghan refugees holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards, most of whom reside in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. In addition, UNHCR has documented around 190,000 Afghan asylum-seekers and refugees who arrived following the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, with an estimated 110,000 considered extremely vulnerable and at risk of imminent harm if returned to Afghanistan.
The Forced Displacement Survey is UNHCR’s flagship program for producing high-quality data on displaced populations. Data collection for the survey was conducted by the Centre for Development and Evaluation (C4ED) under UNHCR supervision between March 2024 and January 2025. The findings provide critical insights into the living conditions, family structures, and vulnerabilities of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, highlighting the ongoing need for policy attention and humanitarian support.
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