Iraq's Census: Planning Ministry dismisses claims on ethnic and sectarian data

Shafaq News/ On Sunday, the Iraqi Ministry of Planning confirmed that the upcoming national census will not include questions on ethnicity or sect.

Abdul Zahra al-Hindawi, spokesperson for the ministry, told Shafaq News that "the national census - which comes 27 years after the last one- will cover both Iraqi and non-Iraqi residents within Iraq only, without questions about ethnicity or sect." stressing that "The Ministry of Planning does not have any data on any demographic components."

Al-Hindawi explained that "the primary goal of the census is developmental. We aim to understand the living and service conditions of the population to create appropriate plans for addressing developmental gaps across various sectors."

The ministry's clarification comes amid speculation that the census could reveal the true proportions of different demographic groups, potentially influencing their weight, entitlements, and benefits.

Notably, on Saturday, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani visited the operations room and call center for the national census at the Statistics and Geographical Information Systems Authority, part of the Ministry of Planning, and reviewed the latest preparations for the census, which is scheduled for October/November.

He also reviewed preparations for the census, including the training and readiness of nearly 700 researchers involved in the trial census. The trial phase, which has now reached the stages of bundling, listing, and numbering, involved 40,000 researchers, with an additional 80,000 researchers being trained, bringing the total to 120,000 researchers and 11,000 reserve researchers.