Section: Population Figures and Profile

Sub-section: Global figures

• Last Updated: 2 March 2010
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Total internally displaced population is estimated to be 2.76 million (as of November 2009)

• 2,764,111 people are believed to be internally displaced in Iraq today (figure as November 2009). This figure is provided by the Ministry of Migration and Displacement and Kurdistan Regional Government, including data monitoring by IOM and UNHCR. Previous years displacement was also monitored by UN led IDP Working Group, which brought UN agencies and NGOs together addressing issues of displacement. The figure is an accumulated figure. 1,212,108 were displaced between 1968 to 2003, in addition to an estimated 200,000 who displaced in 2003-2005. Since February 2006, an additional 1,552,003 million Iraqis have been displaced.
• All figures should be approached with caution. Registration of post 2006 displaced remains voluntary, and contingent on documentation which IDPs may lack. Multiple patterns of displacement also complicate the figures. The figures may not reflect on the number of returnees as deregistration remains voluntary and many have yet to be deregistered. UNHCR and IOM monitoring reports indicate a returnee figure of 350,000 by late 2009.
• The estimates of displacement up to 2003 have also been difficult to validate for national and international agencies in view time lapse and multiple patterns of displacement since displacement, non-registration of pre 2003 IDPs. Observers have suggested that figures on displaced populations, particularly in northern Iraq, have been politicised according to parties’ claims over disputed territories. The pre-2003 figures are based on data obtained in 2005 by the UN Office for Project Services, UNHCR and the IOM.
• There are few alternative sources. Estimates provided by the Iraqi Red Crescent Society as of June 2008 note of 2,1 million people believed to be internally displaced. More than 82 percent of displaced people were women and children under the age of 12. (IRCS, June 2008)
  
  

Estimated total figure for 2008 based on MoDM and Kurdistan Regional Government and monitoring of IOM, UNHCR and IDP working group: 2,842,491 people are believed to be internally displaced in Iraq. Over 1 million of the total displaced population were displaced over 20 years, in addition to an estimated 200,000 who were displaced in 2003-2005. Since February 2006, an additional 1,63 million Iraqis have been displaced.

Estimated total figure for end 2007 based on UNHCR, IOM, IDP Working Group: 2,480,000 (Source: IDP Working Group, February 2008). 1,024,000 people are estimated to have been displaced prior to 2003. Approximately 150,000 were displaced from 2003 to 2005. Inter-communal violence from since February 2006 led to an additional 1,268,000 people being displaced as of December 2007.

Estimated total figure for end 2006 based on UNHCR: 1,884,000 Iraqis displaced by end 2006. The rate of displacement was estimated at 40,000 to 50,000 a month by January 2007. (Source: UNHCR, 8 Januray 2007; Cluster F, 5 March 2007).1,024,000 people are estimated to have been displaced prior to 2003. Approximately 150,000 were displaced from 2003 to 2005. Inter-communal violence from since February 2006 led to an additional 710,000 people being displaced as of end 2006.

Estimated total figure for end 2005 based on IOM and UNOPS monitoring: 1,210,000-1,300,000 Internally Displaced Persons (Source: UNHCR, April 2006; IDP WG, November 2008) The total figure is an accumulated figure based on 1,024,000 people estimated displaced prior to 2003, and an estimated 190,000 displaced in 2003-2005. UNHCR, IOM and UNOPS monitor IDP and returnee movements, however monitoring activities are restrained by ongoing insecurity and ongoing displacement.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), November 2009

IDP Working Group, November 2008

Internally Displaced Persons from February 2006 to July 2008

Internally Displaced Persons pre 2003 until end 2005

Red Crescent Society, June 2008

In May 2008, the total cumulative number of IDP was 2,169,920 people- a decrease by 3,234 people compared to April 2008. There were changes in the numbers of IDP in three governorates- Kirkuk, Kerbala and Saladin (see table 3 for details). More than 82 percent of displaced people were women and children under the age of 12. (See table 1 and chart 1 for 2008 cumulative monthly numbers of IDP and table 2 for distribution of IDP by governorate.)

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