Iraq's population stands at 45.4mn people, according to preliminary results from its first comprehensive national census in over three decades, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced on November 25.

The census, ordered by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's Baghdad government, aims to provide a clear picture of Iraq's population distribution after years of war, invasion and occupation by the US and so-called Islamic State, particularly in the north of the country. However, the process has become entangled in long-standing ethnic disputes in places like Kirkuk, where Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen and other minorities have competing claims.

“The Prime Minister revealed that, based on the completion of the census database across all governorates, Iraq’s population has reached 45,407,895, including foreigners and refugees,” state-run INA quoted him as saying.

The November 20 census marks a significant milestone, as it represents the first nationwide population count to include the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region since the 1991 Gulf War.

The latest figures show an increase from the planning ministry's previous estimate of 43mn people, highlighting the country's rapid population growth, indicating a two million people discrepancy in the official local and international estimates.

"This census provides crucial data for future development planning and resource allocation," Sudani said in a statement.

The last census in 1997 counted 19mn people in federal Iraq, with officials at the time estimating an additional 3mn residents in the Kurdish-administered northern region, which was not included in that count.

Key findings from the 2024 census show:

The population is almost evenly split between males (50.1%) and females (49.8%), with 70.3% living in urban areas and 29.7% in rural regions, INA reported.

Iraq's demographic structure skews towards the young, with 36.1% of the population under 15 years old, while 60.2% are of working age (15-64 years), and only 3.7% are 65 or older.

The census counted nearly 7.9mn households, an average size of 5.3 persons. Women head 11.33% of households, while men lead 88.67%.

Housing data shows that traditional houses dominate at 92.1% of the country's 8mn housing units, with apartments accounting for 6.6%.

The population has grown at an annual rate of 2.3% since the 2009 US data collection exercises, which recorded 31.7mn people.

"Iraq has officially entered the demographic dividend phase with its working-age population reaching 60%," a planning ministry official told INA, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Earlier on November 20, the ministry said detailed reports on demographic, social, and health characteristics would follow. The inclusion of Kurdistan in this year's census represents a major step forward in coordination between Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), officials said.

"We monitored dozens of Kurdish families flowing from the Kurdistan region into Kirkuk to register in the general census," Nazim Al-Shammari, Secretary-General of the Arab Opinion Commission in Kirkuk, told Al-Mashhad. "Hundreds of families remain at Kirkuk's entry points after registering, waiting to return to their cities in the region."