The Kurdistan Region has released a specialized survey on social conditions, conducted alongside a broader socioeconomic assessment spanning Iraq. This regional effort sheds light on a critical flaw in how poverty is measured across both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region: standardized metrics significantly misrepresent local economic realities.
The official survey reports poverty rates of 6% in Erbil, 8% in Sulaimani, and 15% in Duhok, based on a uniform poverty threshold of 137,000 Iraqi dinars per person (or 548,000 Iraqi dinars for a family of four). However, this blanket approach fails to account for stark regional variations in living costs, skewing the true picture of economic hardship.

The limitations of this one-size-fits-all methodology are particularly evident in Erbil, the Kurdistan Region’s most expensive city—and potentially the most expensive in all of Iraq—while Sulaimani and Duhok have considerably lower living costs. As a result, the uniform poverty threshold distorts the true distribution of economic hardship across these distinct economic landscapes

An alternative cost-of-living analysis, drawing from open-source data (Numbeo) and corroborated by our research—shows how stark these differences truly are:

Erbil’s cost of living

• 17.7% higher than Sulaimani’s (including housing)
• 34.5% higher than Duhok’s (including housing)

Duhok’s cost of living

• 12.5% lower than Sulaimani’s (including housing)

Purchasing power differences further reinforce these disparities:

• Sulaimani residents benefit from 16.6% greater purchasing power than those in Erbil.
• Duhok residents enjoy 11.4% greater purchasing power than those in Erbil.
• Sulaimani retains a 5.9% edge in purchasing power over Duhok.

Recent official data (2023–2024) on average monthly expenses per individual further validates these patterns:

• Erbil: 323,700 IQD
• Sulaimani: 300,000 IQD
• Duhok: 266,400 IQD
• Kurdistan Region (overall): 302,200 IQD

Erbil’s average expense of 323,700 IQD per person stands at more than twice the standard poverty line of 137,000 IQD. Consequently, many households that appear slightly above the official threshold still struggle to afford basic needs when local housing and consumer prices are taken into account.

Housing Tenure and Rent Burdens

Homeownership and rental rates also shape how acutely cost of living hits different populations:

• Erbil: 67% own, 26% rent—rents are among the highest in the Region.
• Sulaimani: 72% own, ~18% rent—rents are cheaper than in Erbil.
• Duhok: 72% own, ~21% rent—lower average rents overall.

A higher percentage of renters in Erbil exacerbates its already high living costs, whereas strong homeownership in Duhok and Sulaimani mitigates the impact of local expenses.

Recalibrating Poverty Rates for Local Realities

Accounting for cost-of-living variations, purchasing power, and housing burdens upends the official poverty hierarchy:

• Erbil:
  • Officially 6%, but likely 10–15% once higher expenses (especially housing) are considered.
• Sulaimani:
  • Officially 8%, but probably closer to 5–7% given moderate costs and stronger purchasing power.
• Duhok:
  • Officially 15%, but realistically 8–10% thanks to lower living expenses and high homeownership.

Rather than lagging behind, Erbil may have the highest effective poverty rate, while Sulaimani appears to have the lowestunder more accurate, locally adjusted estimates.

These adjustments fundamentally alter the poverty hierarchy. Contrary to official figures, Sulaimani emerges with the lowest effective poverty rate, followed by Duhok, while Erbil—despite being the Kurdistan Region’s commercial and investment hub—faces the most significant poverty challenges when local economic conditions are properly accounted for.

While this analysis focuses on the Kurdistan Region due to data availability, similar methodological shortcomings likely affect poverty assessments across Iraq. Comparable cost-of-living differences between major cities, smaller towns, and rural areas suggest that the standardized approach obscures economic truths nationwide, potentially misguiding resource allocation for development.

These findings underscore an urgent need for regionally tailored poverty metrics that mirror local economic contexts. Only through such refined analysis can policymakers craft targeted interventions to address the distinct challenges facing communities across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.