Share of female business owners in Iraq
Iraq: Share of female business owners was 13.5% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Share of female business owners in Iraq, 2014–2022
Source: World Bank's Entrepreneurship Survey and database (https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/entrepreneurship). Downloaded on May 2, 2026. Measured in % of total business owners.
Analysis
In 2022, share of female business owners in Iraq stood at 13.5%.
That represents a change of up 14.6% on the previous year and down 4.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of female business owners in Iraq peaked at 14.1% in 2014 and was at its lowest, 11.3%, in 2018.
Iraq ranks 64th of 72 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
Share of female business owners in Iraq, year by year
| Year | % of total business owners | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 14.1% | — |
| 2015 | 13.2% | -6.0% |
| 2016 | 11.5% | -13.5% |
| 2017 | 12.7% | +10.8% |
| 2018 | 11.3% | -11.0% |
| 2019 | 11.9% | +5.0% |
| 2020 | 11.9% | +0.8% |
| 2021 | 11.8% | -1.3% |
| 2022 | 13.5% | +14.6% |
Iraq compared with similar countries
- Iraq's 13.5% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 28.1%, 48% of the median. (23 countries reporting)
- Iraq's 13.5% is below the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 15.0%, 90% of the median. (14 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 12.4% | 11.3% | 14.1% | 6 |
| 2020s | 12.4% | 11.8% | 13.5% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Iraq
More private sector data for Iraq
- Merchandise trade 70.0% (2025)
- Food imports 7.2% (2014)
- Manufactures imports 66.3% (2014)
- Merchandise imports 85.19 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 0.0% (2016)
- Manufactures exports 0.0% (2016)
- Merchandise exports 92.91 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 1,976 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.3653 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate -8 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of female business owners in Iraq?
- Share of female business owners in Iraq was 13.5% in 2022, according to World Bank's Entrepreneurship Survey and database (https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/entrepreneurship). Downloaded on May 2, 2026.
- What is the highest share of female business owners recorded in Iraq?
- The highest recorded value was 14.1% in 2014.
- What is the lowest share of female business owners recorded in Iraq?
- The lowest recorded value was 11.3% in 2018.
- How does Iraq rank for share of female business owners?
- Iraq ranks 64th out of 72 countries with data for 2022.
- Is share of female business owners rising or falling in Iraq?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Iraq data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank's Entrepreneurship Survey and database (https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/entrepreneurship). Downloaded on May 2, 2026, published as part of Share of female business owners (% of total business owners). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 9 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Share of female business is the proportion of female newly registered limited liability company owners out of the total number of newly registered limited liability company owners in the economy in the calendar year.