Rural population in Iraq

Iraq: Rural population was 14.13 million in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
14.13 million
Change on year
up 1.9%
World rank
42nd
of 215 countries
All-time high
14.13 million
in 2025
All-time low
3.92 million
in 1961
Years of data
66
1960–2025

Rural population in Iraq, 1960–2025

5.0M7.5M10.0M12.5M15.0M196019922025

Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).

Analysis

In 2025, rural population in Iraq stood at 14.13 million. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.

That represents a change of up 1.9% on the previous year and up 25.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, rural population in Iraq peaked at 14.13 million in 2025 and was at its lowest, 3.92 million, in 1961.

Iraq ranks 42nd of 215 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 4.00 million 3.92 million 4.15 million 10
1970s 4.39 million 4.19 million 4.59 million 10
1980s 4.81 million 4.62 million 5.21 million 10
1990s 6.49 million 5.32 million 7.67 million 10
2000s 8.69 million 7.91 million 9.33 million 10
2010s 11.10 million 9.61 million 12.41 million 10
2020s 13.42 million 12.69 million 14.13 million 6

Countries ranked near Iraq

  1. 39 France 14.54 million compare
  2. 40 Ghana 14.40 million compare
  3. 41 Morocco 14.17 million compare
  4. 43 Cameroon 13.25 million compare
  5. 44 Ukraine 11.85 million compare
  6. 45 Zambia 11.85 million compare

See the full ranking of 264 places →

More agriculture & rural data for Iraq

All data for Iraq →

Frequently asked questions

What is rural population in Iraq?
Rural population in Iraq was 14.13 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
What is the highest rural population recorded in Iraq?
The highest recorded value was 14.13 million in 2025.
What is the lowest rural population recorded in Iraq?
The lowest recorded value was 3.92 million in 1961.
How does Iraq rank for rural population?
Iraq ranks 42nd out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
Is rural population rising or falling in Iraq?
Over the last ten years it is up 25.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Iraq data come from?
The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

About this data

Indicator
Rural population
Source
World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
264 places, 17,394 data points, 1960–2025
Last refreshed

Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.