ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Tuesday demanded that its 14.14 percent population share be used to determine its allocation in Iraq’s 2027 federal budget, accusing Baghdad of lowering the Region’s census share through disputed calculations.

Iraq conducted its first nationwide population and housing census in decades in November 2024, including the Kurdistan Region for the first time since 1987.

The KRG said the federal government has violated several agreements related to the census, including sidelining joint census teams in the Kurdistan Region, manipulating statistics, and rejecting data.

It accused Baghdad of “illegally lowering the Region's percentage under the pretext of excluding the number of displaced persons and refugees,” in a statement.

The Kurdistan Region hosts and manages the expenses of more than 500,000 people in disputed areas, the KRG added, “yet Baghdad has counted them in its own favor.”

The KRG also objected to the federal government announcing the census results without “completing the comparison process with the 1957 census.”

The dispute over the 1957 census stems from an agreement Baghdad and Erbil reached during preparations for the 2024 census under then-Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani.

In November 2024, the federal Council of Ministers approved a series of measures requested by the Kurdistan Region, including registering people in disputed areas according to their original places of residence and comparing census data with interior ministry records, including the 1957 census and its updates. The measures also called for the federal and Kurdistan Region planning authorities to jointly oversee the comparison process and maintain a special record for disputed areas.

The 1957 census is particularly significant in the disputed areas because it predates the Baathist-era demographic policies that included the forced displacement of Kurds and the settlement of Arab families in areas including Kirkuk province and other territories claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil. The 1957 figures are seen as an important historical reference for assessing demographic changes in those areas.

In February 2026, Iraq’s planning ministry reiterated that a migration matrix had been agreed upon before the census and that Council of Ministers Decision 24853 of 2024 called for tables on population movement and a comparison with 1957 census records. The ministry said the raw census data put the Kurdistan Region at 14.14 percent of Iraq’s population, but that applying the migration matrix and assigning people to their previous provinces, along with excluding foreign residents, resulted in a final figure of 12.68 percent.

The KRG disputes that calculation and maintains that 14.14 percent is the official and approved census result.

In mid-September, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said the Region’s share of federal allocations must be based on its actual population size, which he put at 14.14 percent of Iraq’s total population, arguing that anything below that figure is “unfair”.

The KRG said Baghdad has also not spent “the 13.8 billion dinars [around $10.5 million] allocated for census expenses in the Region, alongside providing illogical justifications for withholding raw data and disregarding the Region's official efforts.”

The population figure has direct implications for the Kurdistan Region’s share of the federal budget. The KRG has said the issue also affects its financial and constitutional entitlements and other forms of representation within federal institutions.