“Population census”: A new card in Erbil’s hand in its confrontation with Baghdad regarding the budget
“Population census”: A new card in Erbil’s hand in its confrontation with Baghdad regarding the budget
2026-06-09
Shafaq News – Sulaymaniyah
On Tuesday, Shwan Kamal, the director of statistics for Sulaymaniyah Governorate, confirmed that the results of the latest population census conducted by the federal government showed that the Kurdistan Region’s share of the total population of Iraq reached 14.4%. A political analyst believes that this percentage gives Erbil greater leverage in its upcoming negotiations with Baghdad, while taking into account the extent of services provided by the regional government to the Kurdish areas outside its administration.
Kamal told Shafaq News Agency that “the census work and the procedures related to analyzing its results are still ongoing,” indicating that “the latest census confirmed that the Kurdistan Region’s percentage is 14.4% of the total population of Iraq.”
He added that “this percentage changed all previous statistics that the Iraqi government relied on in its dealings with the Kurdistan Region, which were based on a percentage of 12.7%,” noting that “the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zubaidi must take this new percentage into account in future agreements with the region, especially with regard to the general budget and other financial and administrative understandings between Baghdad and Erbil.”
Kamal explained that “work is still ongoing to determine the poverty rate and the size of commercial, economic and industrial activity, as well as the rest of the indicators that emerged from the population census,” stressing that “the competent authorities are continuing to analyze the data in coordination with the Iraqi Ministry of Planning to announce the other detailed results.”
For his part, political analyst Karzan Abdul Rahman told Shafaq News Agency that “the latest census, despite the many reservations about it, is much better than the foundations and standards that the Iraqi government previously adopted in dealing with the Kurdistan Region.”
He added that “the current census results mean that the Kurdistan Regional Government has greater entitlements than it did in previous years, especially since the region does not only provide its services within its governorates, but also provides a large part of the services in the Kurdish areas outside the region, or what is known as the Kurdish areas outside the administration.”
Abdul Rahman pointed out that “the institutions of the regional government are still providing health, education and municipal services, as well as aspects related to appointments and public administration in those areas, and parts of the budgets of some institutions are allocated to serve their residents.”
He argued that “talking about the 14.4% figure does not fully reflect the size of the burdens and services borne by the regional government,” explaining that “if services provided in Kurdish areas outside the region are taken into consideration, the actual percentage of beneficiaries of the Kurdistan government’s services may exceed 20% of the Iraqi population.”
Abdul Rahman stressed that “the next stage requires the Kurdish negotiator to be more knowledgeable and astute in managing the outstanding issues with Baghdad,” emphasizing that “the goal is not limited to guaranteeing the rights of the citizens of the Kurdistan Region only, but also includes the residents of the Kurdish areas outside the region who depend mainly on the institutions of the Kurdistan government in many service sectors.”
He concluded by saying that “the upcoming negotiations with Baghdad must be fair and based on the actual demographic and service situation, in a way that guarantees the rights of all Kurds in Iraq within the general budget and the new agreements between the federal government and the Kurdistan Region.”
shafaq.com
