With Iraq’s population exceeding 46 million people, concerns are rising about the impact of this population increase on the economy. Specialists have confirmed that securing employment opportunities for millions of young people entering the job market soon, according to census data, is a pressing issue. They have called for urgent action to strengthen the private sector, establish new industrial cities, and create new popular markets.
The results of the census announced by the Ministry of Planning showed that the percentage of economically active population (aged 15 to 64 years) is about 41.61% of the total population. In contrast, the census revealed that the percentage of children under working age (aged 5 to 14 years) stands at 25%, raising concerns about the large number of children entering the workforce annually amid shrinking job opportunities and a persistently rentier economy.
In this context, economist Mustafa Hantoush, in an interview with Al-Alam Al-Jadeed, stated that “the working population, which is estimated at more than 23 million people, is divided between the public sector, which accounts for 38%, and the private sector, which accounts for 62%.”
Hantoush added, “This distribution is very important, as most of the state’s resources are directed towards the public sector, while the private sector holds the largest share of the workforce.” He further emphasized, “The coming phase will see a significant number of people entering the workforce annually, which requires serious consideration about where these numbers will go, whether towards the public sector or the private sector, which needs a strong infrastructure to accommodate these growing numbers. This includes the establishment of new popular markets, industrial cities, and investment roads.”
It is worth noting that 9.5 million Iraqis depend directly on the state for their livelihood (employees, retirees, and those under social welfare), representing about 23% of the total population, according to Ministry of Planning data.
The preference for government jobs, according to experts, is due to several reasons, including the widespread unemployment, the lack of government support for the private sector, the absence of laws regulating private sector work, as well as the pension system guaranteed by the government for employees and the attractive salaries that were previously paid to government workers.
On the other hand, Ali Al-Dhahabi, a member of the Baghdad Chamber of Commerce, stated in an interview with Al-Alam Al-Jadeed, that “Iraq is in urgent need of encouraging factories, workshops, and artisanal businesses, in addition to enhancing the role of technical and administrative institutes that contribute to qualifying specialized cadres in various fields.”
Al-Dhahabi continued, “Technical and administrative institutes play a central role in developing the professional skills of young people, offering educational and training programs in fields such as design, programming, beauty (hairdressing), management, accounting, maintenance, and many other technical and artisanal professions.”
The industrial sector in Iraq has been in continuous decline due to failed policies and procedures that have weakened the development of the industrial sector in all its branches. In addition, the Iraqi market has been flooded with various imported goods, which have better competitive advantages than local products, leading to the marginalization and shutdown of many local industries, including medium and small ones.
Iraq has more than 25,000 existing factories and plants, but more than 20,000 of them are inactive. The small factories make up about 90% of the total factories and plants in Iraq, reflecting the weakness of the Iraqi industrial sector and the dominance of processing industries rather than strategic and heavy industries.
According to the Minister of Planning, Muhammad Tamim, Iraq has, for the first time in nearly four decades, implemented an electronic population census that provides the ability to identify development gaps at the smallest administrative units and ensures fair distribution of resources among the governorates. This census also draws a precise map of the demographic reality in the country.
The general population census in Iraq was conducted between November 20 and 22, 2024, with the basic family data being recorded. The final phase of the census continued until December 10, 2024, including detailed information through 70 questions asked by specialized teams to citizens.
Iraq last conducted a general population census covering all governorates in 1987. Although the country conducted another census in 1997, it did not include the Kurdistan region, as it was semi-independent during the previous regime.
Earlier, the Ministry of Planning announced the results of the social and economic survey of households in the country in cooperation with the Kurdistan Region, indicating a decrease in the poverty rate to 17.5%, down from 20.05% in 2018.
Manar Al-Abidi, head of the “Iraq Future” Center for Economic Studies and Consultations, confirmed on January 23, that the increasing unemployment rates and the spread of foreign labor in Iraq were driven by the lack of personal, scientific, and practical qualifications among job seekers.
Furthermore, economic expert Ala’ Al-Fahd explained, in an interview with Al-Alam Al-Jadeed, that “the current phase requires a radical change in government programs and a modification of future plans based on the precise indicators provided by the latest census results.”
Al-Fahd emphasized, “The availability of these statistics today marks the end of the era of surprises in government planning. It is now possible to allocate financial resources accurately and determine deprivation levels and population distributions according to clear indicators.”
He pointed out that “these indicators provide a solid foundation for developing future strategic plans based on the data that emerged in the statistics,” adding that “the primary responsibility now falls on the Ministry of Planning and the governorates to coordinate efforts with experts, specialists, universities, and research centers.”
For many years, the phenomenon of foreign labor has been prevalent in Iraq, covering all sectors, especially since most of the workers came from Bangladesh, and more recently from Syria and Lebanon due to the economic crises in those countries. This foreign labor is concentrated in restaurants, hotels, and nightclubs.
Official numbers about the number of foreign workers in Iraq are contradictory. While the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs stated in 2024 that there were only 4,000 foreign workers, former Labor Minister Basim Abdel-Zaman revealed in 2019 that the number of foreign workers had reached 750,000. However, the former Parliamentary Committee for Labor and Social Affairs stated that there are about 1.5 million foreign workers in Iraq.
It is worth noting that most of this foreign labor enters the country illegally, with about 95% doing so to avoid legal procedures in Iraq and to bypass the process of renewing their residency, according to Ministry of Interior spokesperson Khaled Al-Mahna.
