During the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Council of Ministers meeting on Wednesday, KRG Minister of Planning Dara Rashid announced national census results putting the Kurdistan Region’s share of the Iraqi population at 14.1%.

The meeting was chaired by KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani and focused mostly on the population census.

During the first part of the meeting, Minister Rashid presented a detailed report on the national census conducted in November 2024.

The KRG Council of Ministers stated that the census was conducted under prior joint agreements and Federal Council of Ministers decisions. However, it accused Iraq’s Federal Ministry of Planning of acting contrary to those commitments and manipulating the region’s population percentage – potentially affecting Kurdistan’s financial and constitutional entitlements.

The KRG Council of Ministers rejected any reduction of the 14.1% figure and said it will take steps to correct errors. It urged the federal government to adhere to the agreements and the official census results, and called on the Iraqi Presidency and Kurdish blocs in parliament to defend the rights of the people of Kurdistan.

At the end of the meeting, the KRG Council of Ministers demanded that 14.1% be used as the basis for determining the Kurdistan Region’s federal budget share and constitutional entitlements.

The official Iraqi census conducted in November 2024 confirmed that the population of the Kurdistan Region has reached more than 6.37 million, which constitutes 14% of the population of Iraq.

Read More: The Iraqi Census and the Kurdistan Region

In the past, Iraq used data from other ministries, since its last census was carried out in 1987.

After preparations and a few postponements, the federal government conducted the census in November in cooperation with the KRG – the first in more than two decades after the fall of the former regime.