Shafaq News- Erbil
The Kurdistan Region (KRI) accounts for 14.14% of Iraq's population under the 2024 national census, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said on Wednesday, urging that the figure serve as the main basis for calculating the share of the federal budget.
The cabinet raised the census figure at its regular meeting, which opened with a review of the Kurdish delegation's talks in Baghdad on securing the financial entitlements in the draft 2027 budget law.
The figure tops the 12.67% share set under the current federal budget framework, and the KRG argues the census results warrant an increase that reflects the KRI’s actual population.
Last month, KRG spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani said public-sector salaries in the Kurdistan Region must be guaranteed in the federal budget and kept out of political disputes. He also called on Iraq's planning minister, whose ministry oversaw the census, to appear before parliament to discuss the share.