Kurdistan population growing at slower rate than Iraq: UN

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region’s population is growing at a slower rate compared to the rest of Iraq, according to a United Nations official.

“It is true that Kurdistan’s population is growing at a slightly lower rate - 3.6 [percent] for the country and 3.4 [percent] for Kurdistan,” Nestor Owomuhangi, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) representative to Iraq, told Rudaw’s Roj Eli Zalla on Thursday.
 
According to Owomuhangi, since Kurdistan Region is more prosperous than Iraq, population growth will slow as it transitions from a high fertility, high mortality region to a low fertility, low mortality one. 

“Kurdistan is moving faster in that front than the rest of Iraq. It is not a negative thing, it’s a positive thing,” Owomuhangi said. 

UNFPA reached these figures based on projections from previous population censuses. Iraq has not conducted a full census since 1987. Its latest one, in 1997, counted 19 million Iraqis, but it excluded the Kurdistan Region. A separate count put the population of the three Kurdish provinces at 2.8 million.

“The figures we give indeed are approximates, based on projections that were derived from the census that was conducted many years ago,” Owomuhangi said. 

For several years, Iraq has been discussing a new census. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani ordered the planning ministry to conduct the census by the end of this year. The ministry, however, said it needs 15 months to prepare and predicted it will not be ready until October 2024. 

Owomuhangi said he has been assured by Iraqi officials that the census will be held on its time and controversial questions such as ethnicity have been removed. 

“You really can’t plan for a country when you don’t know how many people you have,” Owomuhangi said. 

In May, Sudani launched the National Population Policy with support from UNFPA, which aims to provide guiding principles to shape the country’s approach to population-related matters and create a national development plan in accordance with demographic realities. 

Owomuhangi said he was delighted with the policy and putting people at the center of government planning, rather than other parameters such as inflation, employment, or the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 

July 11 is World Population Day and the United Nations chose “Unleashing the power of Gender Equality” as this year’s theme. The Iraqi government chose climate change and women empowerment as the domestic theme. 

“The issue of climate change in Iraq is that it’s moving at a faster rate than the population can be able to cope,” Owomuhangi said, highlighting families that are forced to move from their homes due to climate change as summers get hotter and end up in total poverty. “The woman is the foundation of the family. When the family is deprived of everything, the woman gets more affected,” he said.