Iraq: Poverty rate fell to 24.8 per cent during second half of 2020

An employee of a currency exchange counter, counts local currency bank notes in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah in the Dhi Qar province, on December 20, 2020 [ASAAD NIAZI/AFP via Getty Images]

The Iraqi Ministry of Planning said on Tuesday that the poverty rate in the country fell to 24.8 per cent during the second half of 2020 after reaching high levels during the first half of the year at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Spokesman Abdul Zahra Al-Hindawi said that the ministry conducted a study in cooperation with the World Bank which showed that the rate fell from 31.7 per cent over the second half of the year.

Al-Hindawi explained that the rate decreased after the government eased the measures taken to prevent the spread of the virus, including the lifting of lockdowns and allowing commercial activities to resume.

The Iraqi official noted that there are fewer than 10 million people in Iraq who are classified officially as being in poverty.

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