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Demographics of Iraq
Population pyramid of Iraq in 2020
Population	46,118,793 (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	3.22 children born/woman (2024)
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	35.90% (2024)
15–64 years	60.44% (2024)
65 and over	3.66% (2024)
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 Shabaks(?) Other Kurds Turks Armenians Afro-Arabs Assyrians Doms Iraqiranians
Language
Official	Arabic and Kurdish
Spoken	Languages of Iraq

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

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 most spoken languages are Mesopotamian Arabic, Kurdish, Assyrian Syriac and Iraqi Turkmen dialects. The percentages of the different ethno-religious groups of Iraq vary from source to source due to the lack of recent official data.

After several postponements, the latest 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.^[7] The detailed results, announced on 24 February 2025, showed that the Iraqi population had risen to 46,118,793, with 101 Male for every 100 Female. Named the ‘General Population and Housing Census’,^[8] it did not include a questionnaire on ethnicity, and was specifically designed to provide official data for developmental and welfare purposes.^[9][10][11]

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%
2024	46,118,793	+3.48%
Sources: before 1955:[12] after 1955:[13]

Age groups[18][19]	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

Average life expectancy at birth of the total population.^[20]

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

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.^[21]

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;^[22] consequently, this skewed the number of other ethnic minorities, such as Iraq's third largest ethnic group – the Turkmen.^[22]

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.

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.^[23]

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).^[21] 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.^[24]

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".^[25] 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.^[25] About 94 percent of the population in Iraqi Kurdistan is Muslim.^[26]

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

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

• Population of Iraq 2023 populationpyramid
• The World Factbook – Iraq
• Linguist List partial inventory of languages and dialects of Iraq Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine