This photo taken on Jan. 5, 2025 shows trucks in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. Afghanistan's total trade volume in 2024 exceeded more than 12 billion U.S. dollars, with a 38-percent increase in imports year-on-year and a 4-percent decrease in exports, said the country's Ministry of Commerce and Industry. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

KABUL, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan's total trade volume in 2024 exceeded more than 12 billion U.S. dollars, with a 38-percent increase in imports year-on-year and a 4-percent decrease in exports, said the country's Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

"Afghanistan's total trade scale in goods stood at 12.42 billion dollars in 2024, of which the country's export volume reached 1.8 billion dollars, while imported goods were worth about 10.6 billion dollars," local media outlet TOLOnews quoted the ministry's spokesman Akundzada Abdul Salam Jawad as saying on Sunday.

He said exports from Afghanistan to Iran, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and the United Arab Emirates have doubled in 2024.

Agricultural products, processed food items, textiles, leather, electrical parts, and construction materials are the most demanded goods among Afghan importers. Meanwhile, Afghanistan's main exports include coal, saffron, fresh and dried fruits, hand-woven carpets, and precious and semi-precious stones. ■