BAGHDAD: Iraq's population has surpassed 45 million, more than a third of whom are under the age of 15, authorities said on Monday after the first nationwide census in nearly four decades. The census conducted over two days last week was the first to cover all 18 governorates since 1987.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani announced at a news conference that, based on the preliminary results of the census, the population of Iraq exceeded 45.4 million, including foreigners and refugees. And while women make up 49.8 per cent of the population, "households headed by women represent 11.33 per cent" of the total recorded, he said.
About 60.2 per cent of the population was between 15 and 65, or "of working age", the prime minister said. The census conducted on Wednesday and Thursday aimed to deliver much-needed up-to-date demographic data for the country, previously estimated to have a population of about 44 million.
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