Over 170,000 vehicles imported to Kurdistan Region in 2024

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Traders imported more than 170,000 vehicles to the Kurdistan Region in 2024, with some of them being transported to areas under the federal government, an official from the Kurdish trade ministry revealed on Sunday.

"We have issued 924 vehicle import licenses to traders who have imported a total of 171,954 vehicles,” Nawzad Sheikh Kamil, a senior official from the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) trade ministry, told Rudaw.

He added that the number has increased by more than 50,000 compared to 2023.

The vehicles come through border crossings that connect the Kurdistan Region to Turkey and Iran.

The official elaborated that some of the vehicles end up in Iraq’s central and southern provinces.

This comes amid increasing concerns over air pollution, partly blamed on poisonous smoke produced by cars.

Drivers fill their fuel tanks with substandard, sulfur-laden fuel.