ERBIL — The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will commence the process of numbering buildings and blockading areas in the provinces of the Kurdistan Region starting tomorrow, October 1.

According to Sirwan Mohammed, Deputy Minister of Planning, this step marks a delay in the broader census process that began across Iraq on November 1, 2023, but the KRG had faced setbacks due to budget constraints imposed by the federal government.

"We are one step behind Iraq in the census process because the federal government did not provide the necessary budget, equipment, and materials for the census process in the Kurdistan Region, causing delays in our work," Mohammed told Kurdistan 24.

The census teams in the Kurdistan Region will be divided into blocks for the enclosure and numbering process, with over 8,000 employees and managers overseeing the task.

Meanwhile, the KRG has expressed concerns regarding the census in disputed Kurdish territories, particularly Kirkuk. Mohammed Kamal, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party's (KDP) third branch in Kirkuk, emphasized that the situation in Kirkuk has not been normalized, referencing the incomplete implementation of Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution, which outlines the resolution of territorial disputes.

“We will have a number of meetings with the Ministry of Planning and the Iraqi government in Baghdad tomorrow to resolve the KRG’s comments on the census process in the disputed areas, especially Kirkuk,” Kamal said in a press conference. He noted that the KRG's concerns have not yet been addressed, and there remains a possibility that the census in these areas may be postponed or canceled altogether.

The general census in Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region and disputed areas, is scheduled for November 20, 2024. According to the Ministry of Planning, Iraq’s population is projected to reach approximately 51.5 million by the end of the year.