The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has raised concerns over Iraq’s draft 2027 federal budget, which sets the Kurdistan Region’s population share at 12.7%, compared with 14.14% recorded in the latest census.
The population figure has become a major point of disagreement between Erbil and Baghdad as a KRG negotiating delegation returns to the Iraqi capital for a second round of talks. The Region is seeking to have its budget share set at 14.14% and is calling for its financial entitlements, including public-sector salaries, to be clearly protected under the federal budget law.
KRG spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani said the draft budget had raised concerns, adding that the government was working with Iraq’s Federal Ministry of Finance to reach an understanding that would ensure stable salary payments for public employees in the Kurdistan Region, in line with Federal Supreme Court rulings.
Amanj Rahim, secretary of the KRG Council of Ministers and a member of the negotiating delegation, said Article 10 of the draft budget law sets the Region’s population share at 12.7%, despite the latest census figure of 14.14%.
Rahim said the difference was not simply a statistical matter, arguing that a lower population share could affect the Region’s financial allocations, development projects and public services. He cited Article 121 of the Iraqi Constitution, which provides for the Kurdistan Region to receive an equitable share of federal revenues, taking population into account.
He also questioned the authority of Iraq’s Federal Ministry of Planning to change the Region’s population figures and said any unilateral decision could face a legal challenge. Rahim further raised concerns about the treatment of disputed territories covered by Article 140 of the Constitution.
According to figures cited by the KRG delegation, the Region’s recorded population was reduced from 6,519,129 to 5,805,142, a difference of 713,987 people. Of that number, 220,591 were foreign nationals who, according to Rahim, could be reassigned to the population records of their countries or areas of origin. He argued that the same statistical approach should be applied consistently across all Iraqi governorates.
The KRG delegation also referred to United Nations standards, arguing that people residing in the Region should be counted as part of its population. It said internally displaced people should also be included because they rely on the Region’s public services.
The KRG Ministry of Finance and Economy has separately raised concerns about the Region’s federal budget transfers over the past 12 years. According to ministry figures, between 2014 and 2025, the Region received an average of just 2.04% of Iraq’s total federal budget after deductions, loans and other financial obligations.
The ministry said the transfers were sufficient to cover 46 months of public-sector salaries out of 144 months during that period. It argued that the Region’s legal entitlement should have been 17% or 12.67%, depending on the calculation used.
The dispute over the population ratio adds another challenge to the longstanding financial disagreements between Erbil and Baghdad. The KRG is seeking clear provisions in the 2027 federal budget to protect the Region’s financial rights and ensure that its public employees receive their salaries on an equal basis with employees elsewhere in Iraq.
