Iraq vs Saudi Arabia Demographics: Median age, Gender, Religion

Median age history and projection chart in
Iraq vs Saudi Arabia

Table

Year	Median age
	Iraq	Saudi Arabia
1960	20.4	18.6
1961	20.4	18.5
1962	20.1	18.4
1963	19.8	18.2
1964	19.5	18
1965	19.3	17.9
1966	19	17.7
1967	18.7	17.6
1968	18.5	17.5
1969	18.3	17.4
1970	18.1	17.4
1971	17.9	17.4
1972	17.7	17.4
1973	17.5	17.5
1974	17.2	17.6
1975	17	17.7
1976	16.7	17.8
1977	16.6	17.9
1978	16.6	18
1979	16.5	18.1
1980	16.5	18.2
1981	16.5	18.3
1982	16.5	18.4
1983	16.6	18.5
1984	16.6	18.6
1985	16.7	18.7
1986	16.8	18.7
1987	16.9	18.8
1988	16.9	18.9
1989	17	19
1990	17.1	19
1991	17.2	19.2
1992	17.3	19.3
1993	17.3	19.4
1994	17.4	19.6
1995	17.5	19.7
1996	17.6	19.9
1997	17.7	20.2
1998	17.8	20.4
1999	17.9	20.7
2000	17.9	20.8
2001	18	20.7
2002	18.1	20.8
2003	18.2	21.1
2004	18.3	21.4
2005	18.5	21.9
2006	18.6	22.3
2007	18.7	22.8
2008	18.8	23.4
2009	18.9	23.9
2010	19	24.5
2011	19.1	25.2
2012	19.2	25.9
2013	19.3	26.6
2014	19.4	27.2
2015	19.5	27.9
2016	19.7	28.6
2017	19.9	29
2018	20.1	29.3
2019	20.4	29.3
2020	20.6	29.4
2021	20.9	29.5
2022	21.1	29.7
2023	21.4	30.2
2024	21.6	30.5
2025	21.8	30.6
2026	22.1	30.7
2027	22.4	30.7
2028	22.6	30.7
2029	22.9	30.7
2030	23.1	30.7
2031	23.4	30.7
2032	23.7	30.8
2033	23.9	30.8
2034	24.2	30.9
2035	24.5	31
2036	24.9	31.1
2037	25.2	31.2
2038	25.5	31.4
2039	25.9	31.5
2040	26.2	31.7
2041	26.5	31.8
2042	26.8	31.9
2043	27.1	32.1
2044	27.4	32.2
2045	27.6	32.3
2046	27.8	32.5
2047	28.1	32.6
2048	28.3	32.7
2049	28.6	32.9
2050	28.8	33

In 1960, the median age in Iraq was 20.4 years compared to 18.6 years in Saudi Arabia. As of 2024, the median age had increased to 21.6 years in Iraq and to 30.5 years in Saudi Arabia.

According to United Nations projections, the median age in Iraq is expected to increased to around 28.8 years by 2050 compared to 33 years in Saudi Arabia. The aging demographics forecast is based on previous years' birth rates and increasing life expectancy.

Demographic pyramid: age and gender distribution

Table

Age range	Share of population
	Iraq		Saudi Arabia
	Male	Female	Male	Female
0-4	6.25%	5.94%	3.98%	3.82%
5-9	6.19%	5.89%	4.14%	3.99%
10-14	6.31%	6.01%	4.02%	3.86%
15-19	5.31%	5.07%	3.68%	3.5%
20-24	4.72%	4.53%	4.31%	3.31%
25-29	4.24%	4.11%	6.42%	3.68%
30-34	3.71%	3.63%	7.84%	3.98%
35-39	3.05%	3.03%	7.54%	3.6%
40-44	2.6%	2.63%	6.09%	2.84%
45-49	2.24%	2.3%	4.27%	2.06%
50-54	1.86%	1.96%	3.04%	1.5%
55-59	1.4%	1.58%	2.19%	1.15%
60-64	0.92%	1.12%	1.41%	0.85%
65-69	0.56%	0.74%	0.75%	0.54%
70-74	0.44%	0.63%	0.4%	0.33%
75-79	0.24%	0.36%	0.27%	0.23%
80+	0.15%	0.29%	0.21%	0.23%

The chart above is a variation of a population pyramid and represents a comparison of age and gender structure. Iraq has average demographic potential with 71.9% of people in the 0-34 age group compared to 60.5% and similar potential in Saudi Arabia.

Age dependency chart

Table

Year	Age dependency ratio
	Iraq			Saudi Arabia
	Total	Young	Old	Total	Young	Old
1960	75.9%	70%	5.91%	87.4%	81.2%	6.14%
1961	76.7%	70.5%	6.18%	88.2%	82.1%	6.1%
1962	78.6%	72.1%	6.45%	89.1%	83.1%	6.07%
1963	80.9%	74.2%	6.72%	90.2%	84.2%	6.03%
1964	83%	76%	6.98%	91.3%	85.3%	5.99%
1965	85.1%	77.9%	7.25%	92.1%	86.1%	5.94%
1966	87%	79.5%	7.51%	92.8%	86.9%	5.88%
1967	88.4%	80.7%	7.75%	93.3%	87.5%	5.81%
1968	89.5%	81.6%	7.96%	93.7%	87.9%	5.72%
1969	90.6%	82.4%	8.16%	93.8%	88.1%	5.63%
1970	92.1%	83.8%	8.35%	93.7%	88.2%	5.52%
1971	94%	85.5%	8.53%	93.3%	87.9%	5.39%
1972	96.6%	87.9%	8.73%	92.5%	87.3%	5.23%
1973	99.8%	90.9%	8.93%	91.6%	86.5%	5.07%
1974	102.7%	93.6%	9.09%	90.7%	85.8%	4.91%
1975	105.1%	95.8%	9.21%	89.8%	85%	4.75%
1976	106.9%	97.6%	9.29%	89%	84.4%	4.6%
1977	107.2%	97.9%	9.28%	88.1%	83.7%	4.46%
1978	106.6%	97.4%	9.21%	87.3%	83%	4.32%
1979	105.8%	96.7%	9.13%	86.7%	82.5%	4.2%
1980	105.1%	96.1%	9.03%	86.1%	82%	4.09%
1981	104.5%	95.6%	8.92%	85.5%	81.5%	3.99%
1982	103.9%	95.1%	8.81%	84.8%	80.9%	3.89%
1983	103.1%	94.5%	8.69%	84.2%	80.4%	3.8%
1984	102.3%	93.7%	8.53%	83.9%	80.1%	3.73%
1985	101.3%	92.9%	8.36%	83.7%	80%	3.68%
1986	100.2%	92%	8.17%	83.4%	79.8%	3.64%
1987	99.1%	91.1%	7.96%	83%	79.4%	3.6%
1988	98%	90.3%	7.74%	82.6%	79%	3.58%
1989	96.9%	89.4%	7.48%	82.3%	78.7%	3.57%
1990	95.7%	88.5%	7.21%	81.7%	78.1%	3.57%
1991	94.6%	87.6%	6.97%	80.9%	77.3%	3.57%
1992	93.7%	86.9%	6.78%	80%	76.4%	3.58%
1993	92.8%	86.2%	6.62%	78.9%	75.3%	3.59%
1994	92.1%	85.6%	6.47%	77.7%	74.1%	3.6%
1995	91.3%	85%	6.33%	76.3%	72.7%	3.62%
1996	90.5%	84.4%	6.2%	74.8%	71.1%	3.64%
1997	89.8%	83.8%	6.08%	73.2%	69.5%	3.67%
1998	89.2%	83.2%	5.97%	71.4%	67.7%	3.7%
1999	88.5%	82.6%	5.87%	69.7%	65.9%	3.74%
2000	87.8%	82%	5.79%	68.1%	64.4%	3.75%
2001	87.1%	81.4%	5.71%	66.4%	62.7%	3.72%
2002	86.4%	80.7%	5.64%	64.1%	60.4%	3.69%
2003	85.6%	80%	5.59%	61.2%	57.5%	3.65%
2004	84.8%	79.3%	5.54%	58.1%	54.5%	3.61%
2005	83.9%	78.4%	5.5%	54.9%	51.4%	3.57%
2006	82.9%	77.5%	5.46%	51.9%	48.4%	3.53%
2007	82%	76.6%	5.43%	49.2%	45.7%	3.5%
2008	81%	75.6%	5.41%	46.8%	43.3%	3.48%
2009	80.1%	74.7%	5.39%	44.7%	41.2%	3.46%
2010	79.3%	74%	5.38%	42.9%	39.5%	3.42%
2011	78.8%	73.5%	5.37%	41.4%	38%	3.38%
2012	78.4%	73.1%	5.34%	40.2%	36.9%	3.32%
2013	78%	72.6%	5.34%	39.1%	35.9%	3.24%
2014	77.4%	72.1%	5.36%	38.3%	35.1%	3.15%
2015	76.7%	71.4%	5.38%	37.5%	34.5%	3.06%
2016	75.9%	70.5%	5.43%	37.2%	34.2%	3.04%
2017	75.1%	69.5%	5.52%	37.8%	34.7%	3.14%
2018	74.1%	68.5%	5.63%	39%	35.7%	3.31%
2019	73.1%	67.4%	5.74%	39.3%	35.9%	3.41%
2020	72%	66.2%	5.78%	38.9%	35.4%	3.5%
2021	70.8%	65%	5.77%	38.6%	34.9%	3.63%
2022	69.4%	63.7%	5.76%	37.6%	33.9%	3.72%
2023	68%	62.3%	5.71%	36.8%	33%	3.86%
2024	66.7%	61%	5.69%	36.6%	32.5%	4.03%

Age dependency is the ratio of people not in the labor force (children under 15 and adults 64+) to people aged 15 to 64.

Age dependency in Iraq decreased from 84.8% to 66.7% between 2004 and 2024.

In Saudi Arabia, the ratio of dependent people decreased from 58.1% to 36.6% between 2004 and 2024 with a decreased share of young people and an increased proportion of people aged 65+.

Working age demographic

Table

Year	Working age population share
	Iraq	Saudi Arabia
1960	56.8%	53.4%
1961	56.6%	53.1%
1962	56%	52.9%
1963	55.3%	52.6%
1964	54.6%	52.3%
1965	54%	52.1%
1966	53.5%	51.9%
1967	53.1%	51.7%
1968	52.8%	51.6%
1969	52.5%	51.6%
1970	52%	51.6%
1971	51.5%	51.7%
1972	50.9%	51.9%
1973	50%	52.2%
1974	49.3%	52.4%
1975	48.8%	52.7%
1976	48.3%	52.9%
1977	48.3%	53.2%
1978	48.4%	53.4%
1979	48.6%	53.6%
1980	48.8%	53.7%
1981	48.9%	53.9%
1982	49.1%	54.1%
1983	49.2%	54.3%
1984	49.4%	54.4%
1985	49.7%	54.4%
1986	49.9%	54.5%
1987	50.2%	54.7%
1988	50.5%	54.8%
1989	50.8%	54.9%
1990	51.1%	55%
1991	51.4%	55.3%
1992	51.6%	55.6%
1993	51.9%	55.9%
1994	52.1%	56.3%
1995	52.3%	56.7%
1996	52.5%	57.2%
1997	52.7%	57.7%
1998	52.9%	58.3%
1999	53.1%	58.9%
2000	53.2%	59.5%
2001	53.4%	60.1%
2002	53.7%	61%
2003	53.9%	62%
2004	54.1%	63.3%
2005	54.4%	64.5%
2006	54.7%	65.8%
2007	54.9%	67%
2008	55.2%	68.1%
2009	55.5%	69.1%
2010	55.8%	70%
2011	55.9%	70.7%
2012	56.1%	71.3%
2013	56.2%	71.9%
2014	56.4%	72.3%
2015	56.6%	72.7%
2016	56.8%	72.9%
2017	57.1%	72.6%
2018	57.4%	72%
2019	57.8%	71.8%
2020	58.1%	72%
2021	58.6%	72.2%
2022	59%	72.7%
2023	59.5%	73.1%
2024	60%	73.2%
2025	60.5%	73.3%
2026	61.1%	73.4%
2027	61.7%	73.5%
2028	62.2%	73.5%
2029	62.7%	73.5%
2030	63.1%	73.6%
2031	63.3%	73.5%
2032	63.5%	73.5%
2033	63.6%	73.5%
2034	63.7%	73.4%
2035	63.8%	73.3%
2036	63.9%	73.2%
2037	63.9%	73.1%
2038	64%	73%
2039	64%	73%
2040	64.1%	73%
2041	64.2%	72.9%
2042	64.3%	72.9%
2043	64.4%	72.8%
2044	64.5%	72.7%
2045	64.6%	72.6%
2046	64.7%	72.4%
2047	64.8%	72.3%
2048	64.9%	72.1%
2049	65.1%	71.9%
2050	65.2%	71.7%

Between 2004 and 2024, the share of working-age demographics aged 15-64 changed from 54.1% to 60% in Iraq and from 63.3% to 73.2% in Saudi Arabia.

Share of young demographic (0-14 years old)

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Iraq	Saudi Arabia
1960	39.8%	43.4%
1961	39.9%	43.6%
1962	40.4%	43.9%
1963	41%	44.3%
1964	41.5%	44.6%
1965	42.1%	44.8%
1966	42.5%	45.1%
1967	42.8%	45.3%
1968	43%	45.4%
1969	43.3%	45.5%
1970	43.6%	45.5%
1971	44.1%	45.5%
1972	44.7%	45.3%
1973	45.5%	45.2%
1974	46.2%	45%
1975	46.7%	44.8%
1976	47.2%	44.6%
1977	47.3%	44.5%
1978	47.1%	44.3%
1979	47%	44.2%
1980	46.8%	44.1%
1981	46.7%	43.9%
1982	46.6%	43.8%
1983	46.5%	43.7%
1984	46.3%	43.6%
1985	46.2%	43.6%
1986	46%	43.5%
1987	45.8%	43.4%
1988	45.6%	43.3%
1989	45.4%	43.2%
1990	45.2%	43%
1991	45%	42.7%
1992	44.9%	42.4%
1993	44.7%	42.1%
1994	44.6%	41.7%
1995	44.4%	41.2%
1996	44.3%	40.7%
1997	44.1%	40.1%
1998	44%	39.5%
1999	43.8%	38.9%
2000	43.7%	38.3%
2001	43.5%	37.7%
2002	43.3%	36.8%
2003	43.1%	35.7%
2004	42.9%	34.5%
2005	42.6%	33.2%
2006	42.3%	31.9%
2007	42.1%	30.6%
2008	41.8%	29.5%
2009	41.5%	28.5%
2010	41.2%	27.6%
2011	41.1%	26.9%
2012	41%	26.3%
2013	40.8%	25.8%
2014	40.6%	25.4%
2015	40.4%	25.1%
2016	40.1%	24.9%
2017	39.7%	25.2%
2018	39.3%	25.7%
2019	38.9%	25.8%
2020	38.5%	25.5%
2021	38.1%	25.2%
2022	37.6%	24.6%
2023	37.1%	24.1%
2024	36.6%	23.8%
2025	36%	23.6%
2026	35.4%	23.4%
2027	34.7%	23.3%
2028	34.1%	23.1%
2029	33.4%	22.9%
2030	32.9%	22.8%
2031	32.5%	22.6%
2032	32.1%	22.5%
2033	31.8%	22.4%
2034	31.6%	22.3%
2035	31.3%	22.2%
2036	31.1%	22.2%
2037	30.9%	22.1%
2038	30.6%	22%
2039	30.4%	21.9%
2040	30.1%	21.7%
2041	29.9%	21.5%
2042	29.7%	21.3%
2043	29.4%	21.2%
2044	29.1%	21%
2045	28.8%	20.8%
2046	28.6%	20.7%
2047	28.3%	20.5%
2048	28%	20.4%
2049	27.7%	20.2%
2050	27.4%	20.1%

The share of young people aged below 15 is 36.6% in Iraq and 23.8% in Saudi Arabia. Birth rates in Iraq compared to Saudi Arabia .

Share of old population (65+)

Table

Year	Share of population 65+ years old
	Iraq	Saudi Arabia
1960	3.36%	3.27%
1961	3.5%	3.24%
1962	3.61%	3.21%
1963	3.72%	3.17%
1964	3.82%	3.13%
1965	3.92%	3.09%
1966	4.02%	3.05%
1967	4.11%	3%
1968	4.2%	2.95%
1969	4.28%	2.9%
1970	4.35%	2.85%
1971	4.4%	2.79%
1972	4.44%	2.72%
1973	4.47%	2.65%
1974	4.49%	2.57%
1975	4.49%	2.5%
1976	4.49%	2.43%
1977	4.48%	2.37%
1978	4.46%	2.31%
1979	4.43%	2.25%
1980	4.4%	2.2%
1981	4.36%	2.15%
1982	4.32%	2.1%
1983	4.28%	2.06%
1984	4.22%	2.03%
1985	4.15%	2.01%
1986	4.08%	1.99%
1987	4%	1.97%
1988	3.91%	1.96%
1989	3.8%	1.96%
1990	3.69%	1.97%
1991	3.58%	1.97%
1992	3.5%	1.99%
1993	3.43%	2.01%
1994	3.37%	2.03%
1995	3.31%	2.05%
1996	3.25%	2.08%
1997	3.2%	2.12%
1998	3.16%	2.16%
1999	3.12%	2.2%
2000	3.08%	2.23%
2001	3.05%	2.24%
2002	3.03%	2.25%
2003	3.01%	2.26%
2004	3%	2.28%
2005	2.99%	2.3%
2006	2.99%	2.32%
2007	2.98%	2.35%
2008	2.99%	2.37%
2009	2.99%	2.39%
2010	3%	2.4%
2011	3%	2.39%
2012	3%	2.37%
2013	3%	2.33%
2014	3.02%	2.28%
2015	3.05%	2.23%
2016	3.09%	2.21%
2017	3.15%	2.28%
2018	3.23%	2.38%
2019	3.32%	2.45%
2020	3.36%	2.52%
2021	3.38%	2.62%
2022	3.4%	2.7%
2023	3.4%	2.82%
2024	3.41%	2.95%
2025	3.45%	3.06%
2026	3.5%	3.17%
2027	3.61%	3.29%
2028	3.75%	3.42%
2029	3.89%	3.55%
2030	4.04%	3.69%
2031	4.19%	3.84%
2032	4.35%	4%
2033	4.51%	4.16%
2034	4.68%	4.32%
2035	4.85%	4.47%
2036	5.02%	4.63%
2037	5.2%	4.79%
2038	5.38%	4.96%
2039	5.56%	5.14%
2040	5.74%	5.34%
2041	5.91%	5.55%
2042	6.09%	5.79%
2043	6.26%	6.05%
2044	6.42%	6.32%
2045	6.59%	6.61%
2046	6.75%	6.91%
2047	6.92%	7.22%
2048	7.08%	7.54%
2049	7.24%	7.87%
2050	7.41%	8.2%

The share of older people aged 65 and over is 3.41% in Iraq and 2.95% in Saudi Arabia. Life expectancy in Iraq compared to Saudi Arabia .