Iraq’s prime minister says the country's population has grown to 45.4 million, according to preliminary results from a national census, the first in nearly 40 years.

By bne Gulf bureau Iraq's population stands at 45.4mn people, according to preliminary results from its first comprehensive national census in over three decades, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced on November 25.

Iraq is holding its first nationwide census in nearly four decades this week, a long-awaited count in a nation that has been blighted by sectarian and ethnic divisions.

Iraq has begun its first nationwide population census in decades in a step aimed at modernizing data collection and planning in a country long impacted by conflict and political divisions.

Iraq's population has risen to 45.4 million, according to preliminary results from a national census, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said on Monday. The census, conducted on Nov. 20, was Iraq's first nationwide survey in more than three decades,

Initial results from Iraq’s national census showed the country’s population stood at 45.4 million, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani said. Iraq conducted its first census in about four decades last week,