Epilogue to the war: Afghanistan reports the lowest well-being in recorded history.

Abstract

Wars have profound effects on well-being, but what about the ending of war? This study investigates this topic using representative samples of 4127 Afghans living through the latter stages of the War in Afghanistan and its aftermath. We find that the life satisfaction of Afghans dropped significantly following the conclusion of the War in Afghanistan in 2022, with two-thirds reporting a life satisfaction rating of 0 or 1 on a 0-to-10-point scale. When compared to data from two international well-being datasets together covering more than 170 countries between 1946 and 2022, the mean life satisfaction score in Afghanistan following the Taliban regaining power (<i>M</i> = 1.28) is the lowest ever recorded. The mean hope score in the country also dropped to a critically low level (<i>M</i> = 1.02) in 2022. Wars are devastating, but the conclusion of war can appear worse from the perspectives of civilians despite the de-escalation of physical violence.