13 September 2018, Erbil, Iraq - The Kurdistan Region Statistics Office (KRSO), UNFPA, and IOM launched today the demographic survey of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), one of the largest statistical exercises conducted in the region since 1987.

The survey provides a comprehensive profile of the current population demographics, employment and income, housing, household possessions, literacy and education levels. This socio-demographic study gathered information from 12,699 households, including long term residents and displaced families in the three KRI governorates of Duhok, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah.

This research is timely as it comes at a time where the country is emerging from the conflict and economic hardship; while a significant portion of displaced families have returned or are considering to go back home. The 2014-2017 war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has had a severe impact on the Kurdistan Region: from the start of the crisis, KRI has provided refuge to more than one million displaced Iraqis and continues to host more than 800,000 internally displaced persons.

Dr Ali Sindi, Minister of Planning for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), said, “The information in this survey establishes a reference base for future statistical studies, and will assist the Kurdistan Regional Government with better planning and allocation of resources.”

Mr Gerard Waite, IOM Chief of Mission said, “This survey is a true collaborative effort with the KRG and UNFPA and hopefully will contribute to addressing the needs of the most vulnerable households, in this critical post-crisis period.”

Mr Ramanathan Balakrishnan, UNFPA Representative to Iraq added, “This demographic survey fulfils the need for updated population and socio-economic statistics and will serve as a roadmap for future, policy development and planning with KRG and partners.”

The survey was made possible through the collaboration of the Kurdistan Region Statistics Office (KRSO) within the Kurdistan’s Regional Government’s Ministry of Planning; IOM – the UN Migration Agency - and the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA). Data was collected from October to November 2017.

Support for the publication of the report is provided by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, and by UNFPA.

The demographic survey is available on this link: https://iraq.unfpa.org/en/publications/demographic-survey-kurdistan-reg…

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Key Finding & Statistics:

• 87 per cent of households have a monthly income of less than 1,000,000 Iraqi Dinar (approximately 850 United States dollars).
• More than 20 per cent of youth (18-34 ages) out of workforce are reported to have lost hope in finding a job.

• In 27 per cent of households the head of household had not worked in the week preceding the survey. Over 40 per cent of the KRI population aged between 15 and 64 years is an active part of the labour force with the public sector employing0 nearly half of the working population.
• Overall data indicates that the average household size in KRI is 5.1 members.
• 35 per cent of the population is younger than 15 years, 61 per cent belongs to the active labour force age group of 15-65 years and 4 per cent is 65 or above.
• KRI families currently enjoy an adequate standard of living: nearly all possess most common household appliances (television, stove or refrigerator). Three quarters of all families own the house they live in connected to the public water (90 per cent) and electricity networks and equipped with sanitation facilities.

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For more information, please contact:

IOM: Sandra Black, Communications Officer, Tel: +964 751 234 2550, Email: sblack@iom.int

Kurdistan Regional Statistics Office: Gohdar Mohammed, Head of Population and Labour Force Unit,  Tel: +964 750 448 8840 Email: gohdar.mohamed@krso.gov.krd

UNFPA: Salwa Moussa, Communications Specialist, Tel: +964 751 740 1545, smoussa@unfpa.org