Such results were demonstrated by an official study, which was conducted with the participation of the National Statistical Service and funded by the UN and Western countries. The calculation was evidence of changes in ethnic composition: according to these data, the number of Pashtuns in Afghanistan has increased in recent years. Such conclusions are put in doubt by observers.

The first census of the Afghan population was conducted in 1979. Then the number of citizens of the country was from 25 to 30 million people. Subsequently, political and economic instability, fighting and the activity of anti-government forces made any demographic research more difficult.

As for the last accounting, it took two years. In the process, satellite imagery and remote sensing technology were applied. Typically, this technique is used for mapping and surveying, but this time it was decided to use it because security problems in many parts of the country where militants of various factions are active would not allow a full census.

The population was estimated on the basis of various factors - in particular, the area of ??residential areas, population density, remoteness from urban areas, night lighting and some other indicators. Despite the fact that such a method does not allow for the accurate collection of data, the authors of the study still decided to draw conclusions about the approximate number of residents of the country, as well as the dynamics of the population in various provinces of the Islamic Republic. In particular, it was found that in a number of northern provinces the population decreased by 80%, and in some central - by 50%. In some regions, on the contrary, there was an increase in the number almost doubled.

Funding for the study was provided by the United Nations Population Fund, which helps developing countries and countries with economies in transition to find solutions to their demographic problems. The study was also supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The study was led by the Central Statistical Organization of Afghanistan. As the television channel 1TV, at the moment this is not all the information obtained as a result of the study. Currently, the JSС continues to record the information received, and final data on the population of the country is planned to be published within a month.

However, some of the conclusions that this statistics contain are already known. Thus, for example, the authors of the conclusion conclude that there has been an increase in the Pashtun population in Afghanistan recently, while the number of Tajiks and Hazaras has demonstrated a decrease. Such data are discordant with the results of other studies of the ethnic composition of Afghanistan conducted by researchers from the Islamic Republic. Observers see this as a political motivation: the president of the IRA, Ashraf Ghani, always presented himself as a defender of the Pashtuns, and, probably, the data on the growth of the ethnic group's number will give him grounds to qualify for another presidential term.