'Costly and ultimately futile'

Iraqis abroad to be excluded from upcoming census

2024-07-15 | 18:47

BAGHDAD – Iraq’s Ministry of Planning has announced that the upcoming national census, scheduled for November 20, 2024, will not include Iraqis residing abroad. The ministry cited the high cost and lack of efficacy in counting overseas communities as reasons for their exclusion.

Abdul Zahra Al-Hindawi, a spokesperson for the ministry, stated that the census will include all individuals residing within the country’s borders, adhering to United Nations guidelines. “The attempts by other states to count their overseas communities have consistently failed due to the inability to obtain accurate numbers,” Al-Hindawi told the official Al-Sabah Newspaper.

Al-Hindawi highlighted Iraq’s unsuccessful 2016 attempt to survey Iraqis abroad. Despite a two-year effort, only 500 individuals provided their information. He emphasized that counting the Iraqi diaspora is both “costly and ultimately futile.”

This census, the first in 27 years, will encompass all Iraqi governorates. The last census, conducted in 1997, recorded Iraq’s population at 22.33 million. The November census will be the first since 1987 to include the Kurdistan Region, which gained de facto independence in 1991 and has since fallen outside Baghdad’s direct control.

As of 2023, the Ministry of Planning estimated Iraq’s population at 43.32 million, reflecting an annual growth rate of 2.5%.

Initially planned for 2020, the current census was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Preparations are underway, including training surveyors from the Ministry of Education and establishing databases and communication centers. The census aims to provide essential data for national planning and development, addressing gaps in Iraq’s statistical records and aiding economic planning and policy formulation.

A pilot census, completed in June 2024, covered 86 areas comprising 46 rural and 40 urban neighborhoods.