What is the difference in population between Afghanistan and Iraq?

3.62 million people, with Iraq ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Afghanistan and Iraq?

241 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2023.

Where does this data come from?

HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Population. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Afghanistan vs Iraq: Population

Afghanistan

41.45 million people

in 2023

Iraq

45.07 million people

in 2023

Afghanistan rank

36th

Iraq rank

35th

Population over time

Afghanistan
Iraq

How they compare

Iraq currently reports 45.07 million people against 41.45 million people in Afghanistan, a difference of 3.62 million people.

That makes Iraq's figure about 1.1 times Afghanistan's.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 241 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Afghanistan ahead.

Afghanistan ranks 36th and Iraq ranks 35th of 238 countries.

Across the 40 decades both report, Afghanistan averaged higher in 35 and Iraq in 5.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Afghanistan	Iraq	Difference	Ahead
1000s	2.25 million people	2.00 million people	250,000 people	Afghanistan
1100s	2.38 million people	1.75 million people	625,000 people	Afghanistan
1200s	2.50 million people	1.38 million people	1.12 million people	Afghanistan
1300s	1.75 million people	1.00 million people	750,000 people	Afghanistan
1400s	1.88 million people	1.00 million people	875,000 people	Afghanistan
1500s	2.00 million people	1.00 million people	1.00 million people	Afghanistan
1600s	2.50 million people	1.25 million people	1.25 million people	Afghanistan
1700s	2.50 million people	1.00 million people	1.50 million people	Afghanistan
1710s	2.56 million people	1.00 million people	1.56 million people	Afghanistan
1720s	2.62 million people	1.00 million people	1.62 million people	Afghanistan
1730s	2.68 million people	1.00 million people	1.68 million people	Afghanistan
1740s	2.74 million people	1.00 million people	1.74 million people	Afghanistan
1750s	2.80 million people	1.00 million people	1.80 million people	Afghanistan
1760s	2.87 million people	1.00 million people	1.87 million people	Afghanistan
1770s	2.93 million people	1.00 million people	1.93 million people	Afghanistan
1780s	3.00 million people	1.00 million people	2.00 million people	Afghanistan
1790s	3.07 million people	1.00 million people	2.06 million people	Afghanistan
1800s	3.28 million people	1.02 million people	2.26 million people	Afghanistan
1810s	3.28 million people	1.07 million people	2.21 million people	Afghanistan
1820s	3.35 million people	1.12 million people	2.23 million people	Afghanistan
1830s	3.50 million people	1.17 million people	2.33 million people	Afghanistan
1840s	3.66 million people	1.22 million people	2.44 million people	Afghanistan
1850s	3.83 million people	1.28 million people	2.55 million people	Afghanistan
1860s	4.00 million people	1.45 million people	2.55 million people	Afghanistan
1870s	4.18 million people	1.67 million people	2.52 million people	Afghanistan
1880s	4.37 million people	1.77 million people	2.60 million people	Afghanistan
1890s	4.57 million people	2.08 million people	2.49 million people	Afghanistan
1900s	4.96 million people	2.60 million people	2.36 million people	Afghanistan
1910s	7.54 million people	3.12 million people	4.42 million people	Afghanistan
1920s	8.65 million people	3.68 million people	4.96 million people	Afghanistan
1930s	6.44 million people	4.00 million people	2.44 million people	Afghanistan
1940s	6.88 million people	4.76 million people	2.12 million people	Afghanistan
1950s	8.29 million people	6.27 million people	2.02 million people	Afghanistan
1960s	9.97 million people	8.12 million people	1.85 million people	Afghanistan
1970s	12.58 million people	11.39 million people	1.18 million people	Afghanistan
1980s	11.58 million people	15.47 million people	3.89 million people	Iraq
1990s	16.11 million people	20.40 million people	4.29 million people	Iraq
2000s	23.78 million people	27.45 million people	3.67 million people	Iraq
2010s	33.14 million people	36.55 million people	3.41 million people	Iraq
2020s	40.28 million people	43.58 million people	3.31 million people	Iraq

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher population, Afghanistan or Iraq?: Iraq, at 45.07 million people against 41.45 million people in Afghanistan as of 2023.
What is the difference in population between Afghanistan and Iraq?: 3.62 million people, with Iraq ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Afghanistan and Iraq?: 241 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2023.
How do Afghanistan and Iraq rank globally for population?: Afghanistan ranks 36th and Iraq ranks 35th of 238 countries.
Where does this data come from?: HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Population. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator: Population
Unit: people
Source: HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 239 places, 51,002 data points, 1000–2023
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Population by country, available from 10,000 BCE to 2023, based on data and estimates from different sources.