Demographics ofIraq
Population pyramid of Iraq in 2020
Population	46,118,793 (2024)
Growth rate	2% (2022 est.)
Birth rate	34.23 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Death rate	3.9 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy	73.18 years
• male	71.3 years
• female	75.15 years
Fertility rate	3.22 children born/woman (2024)
Infant mortality rate	19.62 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate	-0.83 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	35.90% (2024)
15–64 years	60.44% (2024)
65 and over	3.66% (2024)
Sex ratio
Total	1.01 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.04 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.65 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Iraqi
Major ethnic	Arabs
Minor ethnic	Kurds Yazidis Shabaks(?) Other Kurds Turks Armenians Afro-Arabs Assyrians Doms Iraqiranians
Language
Official	Arabic andKurdish
Spoken	Languages of Iraq

TheIraqi people (Arabic:العراقيون;Kurdish:گه‌لی عێراق;Syriac: ܥܡܐ ܥܝܪܩܝܐ) are people originating from the country ofIraq.^[1]

Iraqi Arabs are the largest ethnic group in Iraq,^[2] followed byIraqi Kurds, thenIraqi Turkmen as the third largest ethnic group in the country.^[3][4] Studies indicate that Mesopotamian Arabs, who make up the overwhelming majority of Iraq's population, are genetically distinct from other Arab populations in theArabs of the Arabian peninsula.^[5][6]

The most spoken languages areMesopotamian Arabic,Kurdish, AssyrianSyriac andIraqi Turkmen dialects. The percentages of the different ethno-religious groups of Iraq vary from source to source due to the lack of recent official data.

After several postponements, the latest national census was held on 20 and 21 November 2024, with a total number of 120,000 field researchers who executed the census in allgovernorates on the set date.^[7] The detailed results, announced on 24 February 2025, showed that the Iraqi population had risen to 46,118,793, with 101 Male for every 100 Female. Named the ‘General Population and Housing Census’,^[8] it did not include a questionnaire on ethnicity, and was specifically designed to provide official data for developmental and welfare purposes.^[9][10][11]

Averagelife expectancy at birth of the total population.^[20]

Iraq's dominant ethnic group isArabs, who account for more than three-quarters of the population.

According to theCIA World Factbook, citing a 1987 Iraqi government estimate, the population of Iraq is formed of 75-80% Arabs (includingMarsh Arabs) followed by 15-20%Kurds and other minorities form 5% of the country's population, including theTurkmen,Kaka'i,Bedouins,Roma,Assyrians,Circassians,Mandaeans, andPersians.^[21]

However, theInternational Crisis Group points out that figures from the 1987 census, as well as the 1967, 1977, and 1997 censuses, "are all considered highly problematic, due to suspicions of regime manipulation" because Iraqi citizens were only allowed to indicate belonging to either the Arab or Kurdish ethnic groups;^[22] consequently, this skewed the number of other ethnic minorities, such as Iraq's third largest ethnic group – theTurkmen.^[22]

Arabic andKurdish are the two official languages of Iraq. Arabic is taught across all schools in Iraq, however in the north the Kurdish language is the most spoken.Eastern Aramaic languages, such asSyriac andMandaic are spoken, as well as the Iraqi Turkmen language, and various other indigenous languages.

Kurdish, including several dialects, is the second largest language and hasregional language status in the north of the country. Aramaic, in antiquity spoken throughout the whole country, is now only spoken by the Assyrian minority, in distinct dialects that differ from church affiliation and geographic origin. TheIraqi Turkmen dialect is spoken in parts of northern Iraq, numerouslanguages of the Caucasus are also spoken by minorities, notably the Chechen community.

The CIAWorld Factbook estimated in 2015 that between 95-98% of Iraqis followedIslam, with 61-64% being Shia and 29-34% being Sunni.Christianity accounted for 2%, and the rest (1-4%) practicedYazidism,Mandaeism, and other religions.^[23]

While there has been voluntary relocation of many Christian families to northern Iraq, recent reporting indicates that the overall Christian population may have dropped by as much as 50 percent since the fall ofSaddam Hussein in 2003, with many fleeing to Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon (2010 estimate).^[21] The percentage of Christians has fallen from 6% in 1991 or 1.5 million to about one third of this. Estimates say there are 500,000 Christians in Iraq.^[24]

Nearly all Iraqi Kurds identify asSunni Muslims. A 2014 survey in Iraq concluded that "98% of Kurds in Iraq identified themselves as Sunnis and only 2% identified as Shias".^[25] The religious differences between SunniArabs and Sunni Kurds are small. While 98 percent of Shia Arabs believe that visiting the shrines of saints is acceptable, 71 percent ofSunni Arabs did and 59 percent of Sunni Kurds support this practice.^[25] About 94 percent of the population inIraqi Kurdistan is Muslim.^[26]

• Armenians in Iraq
• Homelessness in Iraq
• Iraqi diaspora
• Youth in Iraq

• Zubaida, Sami. "Jews & Others in IraqArchived 2019-04-12 at theWayback Machine." ISIM review 22 (2008): 6–7.

• Population of Iraq 2023 populationpyramid
• The World Factbook – Iraq
• Linguist List partial inventory of languages and dialects of IraqArchived 2016-03-03 at theWayback Machine

• Demographics of Iraq
• Society of Iraq

• Pages using the Chart extension
• CS1 Arabic-language sources (ar)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Arabic-language text
• Articles containing Kurdish-language text
• Webarchive template wayback links