ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – According to data released by the Iraqi Ministry of Planning, Erbil and Sulaimani recorded the first and second lowest poverty rates in the country, while the southern province of Muthana is the most poverty-stricken.

 

“The least poor was Erbil province with 7%, followed by Sulaimani province with 8%,” read a statement by the planning ministry on Wednesday. 

 

In contrast, the statement reads that the poorest province in the country is Muthanna at 40 percent, followed by Babil province at 35.7 percent.

 

The findings are the result of a comprehensive social and economic survey that the Iraqi planning ministry conducted in 2024 in coordination with the Kurdistan Region’s planning ministry.

 

The findings were obtained from the results of the November population census whose final results were published earlier this week, as well as previously obtained information through the planning ministry’s data collection processes.

 

According to the Iraqi census results, the country’s working age (15-64 years) population is 60.44 percent of the overall population, those aged below 15 years old account for 35.9 percent, and those aged 65 and older make up 3.66 percent.

 

Despite the alarming rates in some of the provinces in Iraq, the country is on the right track, poverty rates for the country are lower than it was in the previous years. 

 

According to data from the German firm Statista, specializing in global market insights, Iraq grappled with a staggering unemployment rate of 15.55 percent in 2022, placing it among the highest ranked globally. Notably, 2021 witnessed Iraq's highest unemployment rate in two decades, peaking at 16.23 percent.

 

The unemployment crisis deepens for Iraq's younger population, particularly those aged 18 to 30, a pivotal segment of the country's population, with hundreds of thousands graduating from universities and institutes annually, eagerly searching for elusive job opportunities.

 

Iraq conducted its first population and housing census in November, after nearly four decades. A count in 1997 excluded the Kurdistan Region provinces.