# Iraq retail & payments in numbers (2026): statistics shops should know > Sourced, dated figures on Iraq's people, internet, platforms, payments and connectivity, with charts and a downloadable CSV, for anyone running or selling to Iraqi shops. By The Dashing team · 2026-09-14 Canonical: https://dashing.krd/en/blog/iraq-retail-statistics-2026 Every number on this page has a source and a date, and the whole table is one CSV: [iraq-retail-statistics-2026.csv](/data/iraq-retail-statistics-2026.csv) (CC BY 4.0; cite "Dashing, Iraq retail & payments in numbers 2026"). We refresh it quarterly and note what changed at the bottom. Company claims are marked as claims. ## People and phones ![Iraq: population, internet users, social identities and mobile connections in millions](/charts/iraq-online.svg) - **47.3 million people**, median age **20.8**, **72%** urban (DataReportal, October 2025). The World Bank's 2025 estimate is 47.0 million. - **39.6 million internet users, 83.8% of the population**, up 4.7% in a year. The World Bank's own series puts 2024 internet use at 81.5%. - **50.8 million mobile connections, 108% of the population**; 86.2% of them are 3G/4G/5G. - A shop's customers are online, on a phone, and young. The owner is too. ## Where Iraqis actually are ![Platform users in Iraq in millions: TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat](/charts/iraq-platforms.svg) - **TikTok 40.1 million** (18+, by the platform's own methodology, which exceeds the adult population), **YouTube 24.7 million**, **Instagram 21.5 million**, **Facebook 20.8 million**, **Snapchat 19.3 million** (DataReportal, October 2025). - WhatsApp does not publish numbers, but it is the business channel: receipts, statements, orders and complaints move on it. That is why Dashing sends receipts and statements as WhatsApp links rather than email. ## Money: cash first, cards rising ![Retail e-payments on Iraqi local cards, Q3 2024 vs Q3 2025, in billion IQD](/charts/iraq-epayments-q3.svg) - Retail electronic payments on **local cards reached 2,984 billion IQD in Q3 2025** (about $2.3 billion), from 2,111 billion a year earlier, **+41%** (Central Bank of Iraq, reported by Iraq Business News, December 2025). - Only **30.2% of adults** had a financial account in 2024 (World Bank Global Findex). Cash is still the default at the counter; cards and wallets are a fast-growing minority. - Qi Card, the largest local card scheme, **claims 11 million+ users and 43,000 POS terminals** (company figures via International Finance). - Since January 2025, POS devices are **mandatory in Iraq's roughly 17,000 pharmacies** (Ministry of Health with the Pharmacists' Syndicate, reported by Jummar), the first sector where "do you take card?" stopped being a question. - Practical consequence for software: a cashier in Iraq must take cash with change, card, and wallet payments (Zain Cash, Qi) on the same sale and book the settlement correctly; it must not assume a bank feed (Iraqi banks publish no open API). ![Adults with a financial account in Iraq, 2024](/charts/iraq-account-ownership.svg) ## Connectivity you can predict - **More than 80 internet shutdowns** in the two years to May 2025, nearly all ordered during school exams, typically **06:00–08:00 on exam days** with a second wave in late August–September (Internet Society Pulse; NetBlocks). - Add everyday power and line cuts, and "offline" is a requirement for anything that runs a counter. [How an offline cashier actually works](/blog/offline-cashier-how-it-works). ## The economy the shop sits in - **GDP $254 billion (2025)**, **$5,410 per person** (World Bank). Oil dominates exports; retail is where households actually spend. - **Prices are quoted in whole dinars**, in practice in multiples of **250**, the smallest note that circulates. Two-decimal accounting is noise here; Dashing keeps the books in whole dinars and prices quotes in dollars when needed. - **No general VAT and no e-invoicing** exist in Iraq today; software built around Saudi or Egyptian tax authorities carries workflows nobody here needs. ## What this means if you run a shop 1. Your customers will find you on TikTok, YouTube and Facebook and talk to you on WhatsApp; put the WhatsApp number on the receipt. 2. Expect to accept cards and wallets more every quarter; choose a system that books them without a separate spreadsheet. 3. Plan for the exam-season shutdowns like you plan for the electricity: the till must keep selling. 4. Keep the books in dinars; show the dollar; round to 250. ## Changes - 2026-09-14, first edition. ## Sources - DataReportal, *Digital 2026: Iraq* (published 8 November 2025; data October 2025), https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2026-iraq - World Bank indicators for Iraq: population (SP.POP.TOTL), GDP (NY.GDP.MKTP.CD), GDP per capita (NY.GDP.PCAP.CD), internet users (IT.NET.USER.ZS), account ownership (FX.OWN.TOTL.ZS), https://data.worldbank.org/country/iraq (API accessed 2026-09-14) - Central Bank of Iraq, retail e-payments on local cards, Q3 2025, reported by Iraq Business News, 20 December 2025 (its domain stopped resolving in September 2026; the Hatha Alyoum syndication carries the same text), https://english.hathalyoum.net/articles/234230-retail-epayments-via-local-cards-rise-in-q3-2025 - International Finance, *Qi Card: Iraq's leading fintech innovator* (company claims), https://internationalfinance.com/banking-and-finance/qi-card-iraqs-leading-fintech-innovator/ - Jummar, on the January 2025 pharmacy POS mandate, https://jummar.media/en/8136 - Internet Society Pulse, *Iraq to Shutdown Internet During 2025 Exam Period* (May 2025), https://pulse.internetsociety.org/en/blog/2025/05/iraq-to-shutdown-internet-during-2025-exam-period/ - NetBlocks, Iraq exam shutdowns, https://netblocks.org/reports/iraq-shuts-down-internet-to-prevent-cheating-in-national-science-exams-gBLk94A4 ## Other languages - العربية: https://dashing.krd/blog/iraq-retail-statistics-2026 --- Dashing · https://dashing.krd/en