ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Thursday asserted that the Region’s share of federal allocations must be based on its actual population size, which is 14.14 percent of Iraq’s total population, arguing that anything below that figure is “unfair”.

In February, Iraq’s planning ministry said that while the Kurdistan Region accounts for 14.14 percent of the population according to the latest census, the figure drops to 12.68 percent after applying mechanisms to exclude residents whose previous residence was outside the Region, a calculation formally objected to by Erbil.

“We had a meeting at the Council of Ministers yesterday, where we officially announced that the Kurdistan Region’s share [of allocations], based on the [population] census that they [the Iraqi government] themselves have conducted, is 14.14 percent,” Barzani told reporters on Thursday.

“Anything less than that is not fair and we have rejected it as the Council of Ministers,” he said.

The premier added that the Region’s actual population size would have been “much higher” if the disputed areas between Baghdad and Erbil were included in the census.

During the weekly cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the Kurdistan Region’s Council of Ministers reiterated its rejection of the 12.68 percent population rate adopted by Baghdad in the 2024 census, calling on the Iraqi government to commit to the 14.14 percent rate, asserting it is the “official, accurate, and approved result” of the census.

The council emphasized that determining the actual size of the Region’s population is “a fundamental matter,” arguing it has a “direct impact” on the Region’s participation in Iraq’s key institutions.

With the Region's proportion of the Iraqi population forming the basis of its federal budgetary entitlements, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) authorities have voiced their rejection of any reduction of the 14.14 percent figure.

In late 2024, Iraq conducted a population and housing census, the first in four decades to also include the Kurdistan Region.