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Iraq aims to start census in November 2022: official

Baghdad city (Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP)
PM:01:01:04/11/2021

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SULAIMANI — Iraq’s Ministry of Planning said on Thursday (November 4) that preparations for the country’s long-delayed census continue, with an eye to starting the count in November 2022.

Spokesperson Abdulzahra Handawi told the state-owned al-Sabah newspaper that the process will require a budget of 120 billion Iraqi dinars ($82.4 million).

Handawi said that the census will be run by the Ministry of Planning and the Central Statistical Organization. Test phases have been completed in Erbil, Karbala, Basra and Anbar governorates, with another one currently underway in Duhok.

"The aim of the testing process is to be aware of the technical and electronic challenges, so that the ministry can overcome them,” he said.

The census was to have been conducted this year, but the government did not allocate a sufficient budget.

(NRT Digital Media)