Baghdad announces commitment to nationwide census date
Part of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Photo: Shutterstock
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Minister of Planning, Mohammed Tamim, said on Sunday that the population census will take place on November 20, 2024, as planned.
Tamim mentioned in a statement that he met with officials in the Planning Ministry, where he reviewed the stages of work and the progress made in field procedures and requirements to complete the population census.
The Planning Minister confirmed that the relevant authorities are making great efforts, in coordination with the concerned companies, to establish data and communications centers that meet international standards and will be operational before the end of July.
Tamim indicated that an experimental census will start on May 26 in certain areas in all Iraqi governorates, including the governorates of the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
This will be the country’s first population count since 1997 and the first to include the governorates of the Kurdistan region of Iraq since 1987.
The coronavirus outbreak forced a postponement of a census scheduled for 2020.
The Iraqi Ministry of Planning revealed an estimation of the Iraqi population in 2023, indicating that it exceeded 43 million.
The Planning Ministry mentioned last July that it is working to conduct a national census in 2024 to serve development plans by setting up a comprehensive database of the population in Iraq.
According to the last national census carried out in 1997, during the era of the late President Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s population at that time was 19 million.
According to estimations, the population in the Kurdistan region of Iraq was around three million people at that time.