Back اقتصاد العراق Arabic İraq iqtisadiyyatı Azerbaijani Эканоміка Ірака Byelorussian Economia de l'Iraq Catalan ئابووریی عێراق CKB Wirtschaft Iraks German Economía de Irak Spanish اقتصاد عراق Persian Économie de l'Irak French Economía de Iraq Galician

Economy of Iraq

Economy of Iraq
Baghdad — the capital
CurrencyDinar (IQD)
Calendar year
Trade organisations
OPEC
Country group
Statistics
PopulationNeutral increase 46,418,421 (2024)[3]
GDP
GDP rank
GDP growth
  • −2.9% (2023)
    0.1% (2024e)
    4.1% (2025f)[4]
GDP per capita
  • Increase $5,623 (2024) [4]
  • Increase $16,756 (PPP, 2024 est.)[4]
GDP per capita rank
GDP by sector
3.2% (2024)[4]
Population below poverty line
  • 2.82% (2024)[5]
  • 15% on less than $9.50/day (2024)[6]
29.5 low (2012)[7]
Labour force
  • Increase 11,744,262 (2023)[10]
  • Decrease 33.2% employment rate (2021)[11]
Labour force by occupation
UnemploymentNegative increase 16.2% (2021)[12]
Main industries
petroleum, chemicals, textiles, leather, construction materials, food processing, fertilizer, metal fabrication/processing
External
ExportsIncrease $127.079 billion (2023)
Export goods
crude oil 92%, crude materials excluding fuels, food and live animals
Main export partners
ImportsIncrease $69.162 billion (2022 est.)[5]
Import goods
food, medicine, manufactures
Main import partners
FDI stock
  • Increase $112.233 billion (2023 est.)[5]
  • Increase Abroad: $2.109 billion (2015 est.)[5]
Increase $58.01 billion (2022)[5]
Public finances
Positive decrease 45.9% of GDP (2024)[4]
−3.056% (of GDP) (2021 est.)
Revenues90.204 billion (2019)[5]
Expenses64.512 billion (2019)[5]
B− (Fitch, January 2022)[13]
Increase $115 billion (February 2023) [14] (24th)
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.


The economy of Iraq is dominated by the oil sector, which provided 89% of foreign exchange earnings in 2024.[15] During its modern history, the oil sector has provided about 99.7% of foreign exchange earnings.[16] Iraq's agrarian economy underwent rapid development following the 14 July Revolution in 1958 which overthrew the Hashemite monarchy. It had become the third-largest economy in the Middle East by 1980. This occurred in part because of the industrialization and infrastructure development initiatives led by Saddam Hussein in the 1970s, which included irrigation projects, railway and highway construction, and rural electrification.[17]

In the 1980s, financial problems caused by massive expenditures in the Iran-Iraq War and damage to oil export facilities by Iran's military led the Ba'athist government to implement austerity measures, to borrow heavily, and to later reschedule foreign debt payments. Iraq suffered economic losses of at least $80 billion from the war.[18] In 1988, the hostilities ended. Oil exports gradually increased with the construction of new pipelines and restoration of damaged facilities, but again underwent a sharp decline after the Persian Gulf War. GDP dropped to one-fourth of the country's 1980 GDP and continued to decline under postwar international sanctions, until receiving aid from the U.N. Oil-for-Food Programme in 1997.[19][17] Iraq experienced a modest growth by 2000, when the government attempted to make improvements and reorganizations in the economic system.

The Coalition Provisional Authority made efforts to modernize the economy after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, through privatization and reducing the country's foreign debt. As a result Iraq's economy expanded rapidly during this time, though growth was stunted by the insurgency, civil war, economic mismanagement, and oil shortages caused by outdated technology.[17] Since mid-2009, oil export earnings have returned to levels seen before Operation New Dawn. Government revenues rebounded, along with global oil prices. In 2011, Iraq increased oil exports above their then-current level of 1,900,000 bbl (300,000 m3) per day as a result of new contracts with international oil companies. The export was thought likely to fall short of the 2,400,000 barrels (380,000 m3) per day forecasting in the budget. Iraq's contracts with major oil companies had the potential to greatly expand oil revenues, but Iraq needed to upgrade its oil processing, pipeline, and export infrastructure to enable these deals to reach their potential.

An improved security environment and an initial wave of foreign investment helped to spur economic activity, particularly in the energy, construction, and retail sectors. Broader economic improvement, long-term fiscal health, and sustained increases in the standard of living still depended on the government passing major policy reforms and the continued development of Iraq's massive oil reserves. Although foreign investors viewed Iraq with increasing interest in 2010, most were still hampered by difficulties acquiring land for projects and other regulatory impediments.

  1. ^ "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2019". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  2. ^ "World Bank Country and Lending Groups". datahelpdesk.worldbank.org. World Bank. Archived from the original on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Iraq Population". worldpopulationreview.com. World Bank. Archived from the original on 13 April 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2024 Edition". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "The World Factbook". CIA.gov. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2017.."Socioeconomic Indicators - Iraq | Statista Market Forecast".
  6. ^ "Iraq". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Archived from the original on 15 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  7. ^ "GINI index (World Bank estimate) - Iraq". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Archived from the original on 23 December 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Human Development Index (HDI)". hdr.undp.org. HDRO (Human Development Report Office) United Nations Development Programme. Archived from the original on 26 March 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  9. ^ "Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI)". hdr.undp.org. HDRO (Human Development Report Office) United Nations Development Programme. Archived from the original on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  10. ^ "Labor force, total - Iraq". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Archived from the original on 15 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  11. ^ "Employment to population ratio, 15+, total (%) (national estimate) - Iraq". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Archived from the original on 15 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (national estimate) - Iraq". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Archived from the original on 15 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  13. ^ "Iraq Sovereign credit ratings - data, chart". TheGlobalEconomy.com. Archived from the original on 15 November 2022. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  14. ^ "Info". www.ina.iq. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  15. ^ "Non-oil revenues surge in Iraq, oil dependency falls below 90%". Shafaq News. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ a b c "Iraq - Economy". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  18. ^ Christopher Parker & Pete W. Moore. "MER 243 - The War Economy of Iraq". Middle East Research and Information Project. Archived from the original on 12 April 2018.
  19. ^ "What We Do". Archived from the original on 20 February 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
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