Demographics of Iraq

The Iraqi people (Arabic: العراقيون; Kurdish: گه‌لی عێراق; Syriac: ܥܡܐ ܥܝܪܩܝܐ; Turkish: Iraklılar) are people originating from the country of Iraq.^[1]

Demographics of Iraq
Population pyramid of Iraq in 2020
Population	45,407,895 (2024)
Growth rate	2% (2022 est.)
Birth rate	34.23 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Death rate	3.9 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy	73.18 years
• male	71.3 years
• female	75.15 years
Fertility rate	3.25 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate	19.62 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate	-0.83 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	37.02%
65 and over	3.33%
Sex ratio
Total	1.01 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.04 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.65 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Iraqi
Major ethnic	Arabs
Minor ethnic	Kurds Yazidis Other Kurds Turks Afro-Arabs Shabaks Assyrians Doms Others
Language
Official	Arabic, Kurdish

Historical population of Iraq

Iraqi Arabs are the largest ethnic group in Iraq,^[2] followed by Iraqi Kurds, then Iraqi Turkmen as the third largest ethnic group in the country.^[3][4] Studies indicate that Mesopotamian Arabs, who make up the overwhelming majority of Iraq's population, are genetically distinct from other Arab populations in the Arabs of the Arabian peninsula.^[5][6]

The population was estimated to be 43,533,592 in 2021^[7] Turkmens (3 million), Assyrians (0.5 million), Yazidis (500,000), Armenians, Marsh Arabs, and Shabaks (250,000). Other minorities include Mandaeans (3,000), Roma (50,000) and Circassians (2,000).^[8] The most spoken languages are Mesopotamian Arabic, Kurdish, Assyrian Syriac and Iraqi Turkmen dialects. The percentages of different ethno-religious groups residing in Iraq vary from source to source due to the last Iraqi census having taken place over 30 years ago. A new census of Iraq was planned to take place in 2020,^[9] but this was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[10] It was rescheduled to November 2022^[11][12] but was postponed again with an "electronic national population census" planned in the last quarter of 2023.^[13]

A new national census was held on 20 and 21 November 2024, with a total number of 120,000 field researchers who executed the census in all governorates on the set date.^[14]

The population was 45,407,895.^[15]

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
0	1,000,000	—
500	1,005,000	+0.00%
1000	2,000,000	+0.14%
1500	1,000,000	−0.14%
1700	1,000,000	+0.00%
1800	1,000,000	+0.00%
1901	2,470,000	+0.90%
1955	6,502,657	+1.81%
1960	7,289,760	+2.31%
1965	8,375,790	+2.82%
1970	9,917,983	+3.44%
1975	11,684,590	+3.33%
1980	13,653,354	+3.16%
1985	15,555,800	+2.64%
1990	17,419,113	+2.29%
1995	20,149,338	+2.95%
2000	23,497,585	+3.12%
2005	26,922,284	+2.76%
2010	29,741,976	+2.01%
2015	35,572,261	+3.64%
2020	40,222,493	+2.49%
Sources:before 1955:[16] after 1955:[17]

39,650,145 (2021 estimate),^[18] 43,533,592 (2021 estimate),^[19][20] up from 31,234,000 (April 2009 IMF estimate)^[21]

Structure of the population

Structure of the population (1 July 2013) (Estimates):^[22]

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	17,710,750	17,083,444	34,794,194	100
0–4	2,495,131	2,405,862	4,900,993	14.09
5–9	2,374,908	2,191,807	4,566,714	13.12
10–14	2,232,712	2,048,891	4,281,603	12.31
15–19	1,937,714	1,825,963	3,763,677	10.82
20–24	1,701,884	1,593,679	3,295,563	9.47
25–29	1,424,739	1,316,462	2,741,201	7.88
30–34	1,176,433	1,134,882	2,311,316	6.64
35–39	983,570	1,044,325	2,027,895	5.83
40–44	933,785	897,936	1,831,722	5.26
45–49	746,884	763,311	1,510,195	4.34
50–54	508,498	562,274	1,070,772	3.08
55–59	356,581	393,511	750,093	2.16
60–64	345,830	378,456	724,285	2.08
65–69	187,626	218,991	406,617	1.17
70–74	133,277	138,375	271,651	0.78
75–79	81,742	90,630	172,373	0.50
80+	89,436	78,087	167,523	0.48
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	8,005,327	7,674,802	15,680,129	39.01
15–24	3,976,085	3,829,086	7,805,171	19.24
25–54	6,900,984	6,752,797	13,653,781	33.97
55–64	788,602	839,291	1,627,893	4.05
65+	632,753	794,489	1,427,242	3.55

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020):^[23]

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	20 135 407	19 719 025	39 854 432	100
0–4	3 001 938	2 845 630	5 847 568	14.67
5–9	2 801 593	2 637 323	5 438 915	13.65
10–14	2 503 802	2 337 380	4 841 183	12.15
15–19	2 196 837	2 075 647	4 272 484	10.72
20–24	1 918 965	1 770 996	3 689 961	9.26
25–29	1 505 098	1 463 422	2 968 520	7.45
30–34	1 317 918	1 356 230	2 674 148	6.71
35–39	1 123 350	1 184 338	2 307 688	5.79
40–44	1 059 298	1 073 442	2 132 741	5.35
45–49	782 854	806 097	1 588 951	3.99
50–54	461 586	574 816	1 036 401	2.60
55–59	524 741	549 131	1 073 872	2.69
60–64	361 381	394 984	756 365	1.90
65-69	237 890	247 820	485 710	1.22
70-74	155 203	156 175	311 378	0.78
75-79	81 749	98 501	180 250	0.45
80+	101 202	147 093	248 296	0.62
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	8 307 333	7 820 333	16 127 666	40.47
15–64	11 252 030	11 249 103	22 501 133	56.46
65+	576 044	649 589	1 225 633	3.08

Vital statistics

UN estimates

Year[24]	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change	CBR1	CDR1	NC1	IMR1	Total fertility rate	Life expectancy (years)
1950	259,000	142,000	117,000	45.7	25.1	20.6	222.0	6.20	38.98
1951	270,000	137,000	133,000	46.7	23.8	23.0	210.2	6.40	40.65
1952	293,000	136,000	157,000	49.4	23.0	26.4	199.1	6.84	42.20
1953	297,000	134,000	163,000	48.8	22.0	26.8	188.5	6.84	43.71
1954	297,000	130,000	167,000	47.6	20.8	26.7	178.5	6.76	45.21
1955	267,000	123,000	144,000	41.7	19.2	22.5	169.0	6.00	46.58
1956	271,000	117,000	154,000	41.4	17.8	23.6	160.1	6.00	47.88
1957	220,000	107,000	113,000	32.9	16.0	16.9	151.6	4.80	49.21
1958	224,000	101,000	123,000	32.9	14.8	18.1	143.7	4.80	50.41
1959	252,000	101,000	151,000	36.4	14.6	21.8	136.3	5.30	51.03
1960	257,000	98,000	159,000	36.3	13.9	22.4	129.4	5.30	52.62
1961	289,000	100,000	189,000	39.7	13.8	26.0	123.1	5.80	53.41
1962	352,000	105,000	247,000	47.1	14.0	33.0	117.2	6.87	54.33
1963	363,000	109,000	254,000	46.9	14.0	32.8	111.8	6.90	54.95
1964	373,000	110,000	263,000	46.7	13.8	32.9	107.4	6.93	55.63
1965	384,000	109,000	275,000	46.4	13.2	33.2	102.1	6.95	56.62
1966	395,000	109,000	286,000	46.2	12.8	33.4	97.7	6.97	57.35
1967	408,000	108,000	299,000	46.1	12.2	33.8	93.5	7.00	58.37
1968	422,000	110,000	312,000	46.1	12.0	34.1	89.9	7.05	58.78
1969	438,000	110,000	328,000	46.2	11.6	34.6	86.0	7.10	59.32
1970	450,000	110,000	340,000	45.8	11.2	34.6	82.6	7.08	60.19
1971	461,000	109,000	352,000	45.4	10.7	34.7	79.0	7.06	60.91
1972	471,000	110,000	362,000	44.8	10.4	34.4	76.0	7.01	61.39
1973	481,000	109,000	372,000	44.3	10.0	34.2	73.0	6.96	62.03
1974	492,000	117,000	375,000	43.7	10.4	33.4	70.4	6.93	60.90
1975	500,000	116,000	384,000	43.0	10.0	33.0	67.7	6.88	61.46
1976	508,000	108,000	400,000	42.3	9.0	33.3	64.6	6.81	63.72
1977	516,000	108,000	408,000	41.6	8.7	32.9	62.1	6.75	64.23
1978	525,000	110,000	416,000	41.0	8.5	32.4	59.8	6.69	64.40
1979	536,000	110,000	426,000	40.4	8.3	32.1	57.7	6.63	64.79
1980	546,000	128,000	418,000	40.0	9.4	30.6	55.7	6.57	61.50
1981	560,000	143,000	417,000	39.8	10.1	29.6	53.8	6.51	59.33
1982	573,000	143,000	429,000	39.5	9.9	29.6	52.1	6.45	59.73
1983	586,000	144,000	442,000	39.4	9.7	29.7	50.5	6.39	60.06
1984	607,000	147,000	460,000	39.5	9.6	29.9	49.1	6.33	60.22
1985	620,000	148,000	472,000	39.1	9.3	29.7	47.7	6.25	60.68
1986	626,000	149,000	477,000	38.8	9.2	29.6	46.4	6.18	60.87
1987	642,000	151,000	491,000	38.5	9.0	29.5	45.3	6.10	61.18
1988	662,000	184,000	477,000	38.8	10.8	28.0	49.2	6.02	57.47
1989	683,000	187,000	495,000	39.1	10.7	28.4	53.3	5.94	58.24
1990	708,000	190,000	518,000	39.4	10.6	28.8	52.2	5.88	58.44
1991	707,000	153,000	554,000	39.5	8.5	31.0	46.2	5.81	62.52
1992	722,000	123,000	599,000	39.3	6.7	32.6	41.1	5.72	66.71
1993	744,000	125,000	619,000	39.1	6.6	32.6	40.3	5.64	66.90
1994	782,000	133,000	649,000	38.7	6.6	32.1	39.7	5.53	66.74
1995	796,000	138,000	658,000	38.0	6.6	31.4	39.1	5.40	66.46
1996	810,000	142,000	668,000	37.4	6.6	30.9	38.4	5.29	66.39
1997	835,000	150,000	685,000	37.4	6.7	30.7	37.9	5.24	65.84
1998	853,000	156,000	697,000	37.0	6.8	30.3	36.9	5.15	65.49
1999	873,000	154,000	719,000	36.7	6.5	30.2	36.3	5.06	66.18
2000	891,000	152,000	740,000	36.3	6.2	30.1	35.6	4.95	66.82
2001	905,000	154,000	752,000	35.6	6.0	29.6	34.9	4.84	67.03
2002	916,000	156,000	759,000	35.0	6.0	29.0	34.2	4.71	67.08
2003	937,000	175,000	761,000	34.6	6.5	28.1	33.6	4.62	65.64
2004	963,000	186,000	776,000	34.6	6.7	27.9	32.9	4.58	65.03
2005	975,000	193,000	782,000	34.0	6.7	27.3	32.3	4.48	64.84
2006	998,000	213,000	785,000	33.8	7.2	26.6	31.6	4.44	63.59
2007	976,000	210,000	766,000	33.6	7.2	26.4	30.8	4.37	63.55
2008	972,000	193,000	779,000	33.5	6.7	26.8	30.1	4.34	64.94
2009	1,019,000	184,000	836,000	33.7	6.1	27.6	29.3	4.36	66.45
2010	1,071,000	183,000	888,000	34.3	5.9	28.4	28.6	4.43	67.06
2011	1,132,000	182,000	950,000	35.1	5.6	29.4	27.7	4.54	67.66
2012	1,159,000	184,000	974,000	34.6	5.5	29.1	26.9	4.48	68.02
2013	1,192,000	191,000	1,001,000	33.8	5.4	28.4	26.2	4.38	68.25
2014	1,216,000	190,000	1,026,000	33.1	5.2	27.9	25.2	4.28	68.91
2015	1,193,000	187,000	1,006,000	31.6	5.0	26.6	24.5	4.09	69.44
2016	1,168,000	199,000	970,000	30.2	5.1	25.0	23.7	3.90	68.99
2017	1,146,000	184,000	962,000	28.9	4.6	24.3	23.0	3.73	70.41
2018	1,154,000	174,000	980,000	28.4	4.3	24.1	22.4	3.66	71.51
2019	1,168,000	179,000	989,000	28.1	4.3	23.8	21.8	3.60	71.58
2020	1,179,000	223,000	957,000	27.7	5.2	22.5	21.0	3.55	69.12
2021	1,192,000	207,000	985,000	27.4	4.8	22.6	20.3	3.50	70.38
1 CBR = crude birth rate (per 1,000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1,000); NC = natural change (per 1,000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1,000 births

Total fertility rate

Iraq fertility rate by region (2006)^[25]

5–6   4–5   3–4   2–3

Age groups[26][27]	1997	2006
15–19	56.2	68
20–24	210	187
25–29	276.2	221
30–34	257.9	188
35–39	196.5	136
40–44	101.4	56
45–49	31	9
Total	1,128.2	865
TFR		4.3

Life expectancy at birth

Average life expectancy at age 0 of the total population.^[28]

Life expectancy at birth in Iraq

Period	Life expectancy in Years	Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	37.9	1985–1990	64.3
1955–1960	44.9	1990–1995	67.4
1960–1965	50.9	1995–2000	69.1
1965–1970	56.4	2000–2005	68.9
1970–1975	59.5	2005–2010	68.0
1975–1980	61.7	2010–2015	69.2
1980–1985	59.0

Ethnicity

Main articles: Iraqi people and Minorities in Iraq

  Sunni Arabs

  Shiite Arabs

  Sunni Kurds

  Assyrians

  Yazidis

  Turkmen

Iraq's dominant ethnic group is Arabs, who account for more than three-quarters of the population.

According to the CIA World Factbook, citing a 1987 Iraqi government estimate, the population of Iraq is formed of 75-80% Arabs (including Marsh Arabs) followed by 15-20% Kurds and other minorities form 5% of the country's population, including the Turkmen, Kaka'i, Bedouins, Roma, Assyrians, Circassians, Mandaeans, and Persians.^[29]

However, the International Crisis Group points out that figures from the 1987 census, as well as the 1967, 1977, and 1997 censuses, "are all considered highly problematic, due to suspicions of regime manipulation" because Iraqi citizens were only allowed to indicate belonging to either the Arab or Kurdish ethnic groups;^[30] consequently, this skewed the number of other ethnic minorities, such as Iraq's third largest ethnic group – the Turkmen.^[30]

Languages

See also: Languages of Iraq

Arabic and Kurdish are the two official languages of Iraq. Arabic is taught across all schools in Iraq, however in the north the Kurdish language is the most spoken. Eastern Aramaic languages, such as Syriac and Mandaic are spoken, as well as the Iraqi Turkmen language, and various other indigenous languages.

Kurdish, including several dialects, is the second largest language and has regional language status in the north of the country. Aramaic, in antiquity spoken throughout the whole country, is now only spoken by the Assyrian minority, in distinct dialects that differ from church affiliation and geographic origin. The Iraqi Turkmen dialect is spoken in parts of northern Iraq, numerous languages of the Caucasus are also spoken by minorities, notably the Chechen community.

Religions

Main articles: Religion in Iraq, Islam in Iraq, and Christianity in Iraq

Religion in Iraq (2015 CIA estimate)^[31]

  Shia Islam (61%)

  Sunni Islam (34%)

  Christianity (2%)

  Other (3%)

The CIA World Factbook estimated in 2015 that between 95-98% of Iraqis followed Islam, with 61-64% being Shia and 29-34% being Sunni. Christianity accounted for 2%, and the rest (1-4%) practiced Yazidism, Mandaeism, and other religions.^[31]

While there has been voluntary relocation of many Christian families to northern Iraq, recent reporting indicates that the overall Christian population may have dropped by as much as 50 percent since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, with many fleeing to Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon (2010 estimate).^[29] The percentage of Christians has fallen from 6% in 1991 or 1.5 million to about one third of this. Estimates say there are 500,000 Christians in Iraq.^[32]

Nearly all Iraqi Kurds identify as Sunni Muslims. A 2014 survey in Iraq concluded that "98% of Kurds in Iraq identified themselves as Sunnis and only 2% identified as Shias".^[33] The religious differences between Sunni Arabs and Sunni Kurds are small. While 98 percent of Shia Arabs believe that visiting the shrines of saints is acceptable, 71 percent of Sunni Arabs did and 59 percent of Sunni Kurds support this practice.^[33] About 94 percent of the population in Iraqi Kurdistan is Muslim.^[34]

See also

• Armenians in Iraq
• Homelessness in Iraq
• Iraqi diaspora
• Youth in Iraq

References

1. "Iraqi – a native or inhabitant of Iraq". Reference.com. Retrieved 2010-12-10.
2. Office, Great Britain Foreign (1958). Documents on British Foreign Policy, 1919-1939. H.M. Stationery Office.
3. "Minorities in Iraq: EU Research Service" (PDF).
4. Mitchell, T. F. (1990–1993). Pronouncing Arabic. Oxford [England]: Clarendon Press. p. 37. ISBN 0198151519. OCLC 18020063.
5. Nadia Al-Zahery; Maria Pala; Vincenza Battaglia; Viola Grugni; Mohammed A. Hamod; Baharak Hooshiar Kashani; Anna Olivieri; Antonio Torroni; Augusta S. Santachiara-Benerecetti; Ornella Semino (2011). "In search of the genetic footprints of Sumerians: a survey of genetic variation in the Arabs of Iraq". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 11: 288. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-11-288. PMC 3215667. PMID 21970613.
6. Cavalli-Sforza, L. Luca; Menozzi, Paolo; Piazza, Alberto (2018-06-05). The History and Geography of Human Genes. Princeton University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv301gjp. ISBN 9780691187266. S2CID 242032876.
7. "Population, total - Iraq". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
8. "Minorities in Iraq - European Research Service" (PDF).
9. "Iraq prepping to conduct a census in 2020". rudaw.net. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
10. "COVID-19 postpones Iraq's Census for the current year". shafaq.com. Archived from the original on 2021-08-21. Retrieved 2021-08-21.
11. "Iraq Planning National Census for End of 2022". Bas News. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
12. "IRAQ AIMS TO START CENSUS IN NOVEMBER 2022: OFFICIAL". NRT. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
13. "Iraq to hold National Census next year". Iraq Business News. 13 June 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
14. "Iraq launches extensive population census plan with 120,000 researchers". Iraqi News Agency.
15. "Iraqi Census: Key Findings | Iraq Business News". 2024-11-26. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
16. "Iraq Population - Our World in Data". www.ourworldindata.org.
17. "Iraq Population - Worldometer". www.worldometers.info.
18. "Middle East :: Iraq — The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". cia.gov. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
19. "World Population Prospects 2022". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
20. "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
21. "Iraq". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
22. "United Nations Statistics Division - Demographic and Social Statistics". Archived from the original on 2004-09-21.
23. "UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics".
24. "World Population Prospects: The 2022 Revision".
25. "Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2006 – unicef statistics" (PDF). Unicef. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
26. "الجهاز المركزي للاحصاء - Demographic Statistics". Archived from the original on 2014-03-05. Retrieved 2014-03-05.
27. "UNICEF DATA - Child Statistics" (PDF).
28. "World Population Prospects – Population Division – United Nations". esa.un.org. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
29. "Iraq". The World Factbook. 22 June 2014.
30. "Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds: Conflict or Cooperation?" (PDF). International Crisis Group. 2008. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
31. "Iraq - the World Factbook". 27 April 2022. Archived from the original on 2024-03-20.
32. "MINORITIES IN IRAQ: EU Research Service" (PDF).
33. "Who are the Iraqi Kurds?". 20 August 2014.
34. "Religious Neutrality in Iraqi Kurdistan". HuffPost. 18 June 2012.

Further reading

• Zubaida, Sami. "Jews & Others in Iraq Archived 2019-04-12 at the Wayback Machine." ISIM review 22 (2008): 6–7.

External links

• populationpyramid
• The World Factbook – Iraq
• Linguist List partial inventory of languages and dialects of Iraq Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine