16-02-2025
Iraq census: Demographic shift, poverty decline
Shafaq News/ On Sunday, Iraq's Ministry of Planning announced a decline in poverty rates and confirmed the release dates for the final census results.
Ministry spokesperson Abdul Zahra Al-Hindawi told Shafaq News that Iraq's poverty rate dropped from 21.5% in 2022 to 17.6% in 2024, crediting the decrease to 'government-led economic relief efforts.'
Al-Hindawi confirmed that the General Census of Population and Housing results will be published on February 24, followed by detailed poverty figures on February 26, offering data at both national and provincial levels.
Iraq conducted its first nationwide census in 37 years on November 20–21, 2024, revealing a total population exceeding 45 million, with an annual growth rate of 2.3%.
Days later, on November 25, 2024, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani announced that Iraq's official population stood at 45,407,495, including foreigners and refugees, with 7,898,588 total households across the country.
Al-Sudani detailed that males make up 50.1% of the population (22,784,062), while females account for 49.8% (22,623,833), with 36.1% of the total population under the age of 15, while 3.7% are 65 or older.
The census also recorded 8,037,221 housing units, with 92.1% classified as standalone houses, 6.6% as apartments, and 0.4% as mud-brick homes.
