Iraq's economy rises and falls with the oil price. Enlil Center is an independent research center in Baghdad working on the public finances, the private sector and the structural choices that decide whether growth reaches Iraqis.
Our economic research connects the macro picture, oil rents, the budget, inflation and growth, to the questions that matter for households and firms: jobs, social protection, access to finance and the cost of inaction on climate and water. The team has managed national fieldwork for the University of Birmingham's assessment of Iraq's social-protection system and consultations for EBRD and IFC on the private sector.
Below are our economy reports, articles and datasets, including GDP, growth, inflation, unemployment, oil rents as a share of GDP and population.
The technical report behind Iraq's first Climate Investment Plan: US$82.85 billion of sector-by-sector investment need to 2030, a measured 2021 emissions baseline, and five funding streams. Othman Kareem of Enlil Center, working as a consultant to UNDP, was a contributing author.
Iraq charges students and researchers for official data under budget-law fee powers dating from 2016, while its right-to-information bill stalls in Parliament. Enlil Research Unit traces the instruments and sets out five fixes.
Six months on from Enlil's original 6 April dispatch: Othman Kareem revisits the 2026 Hormuz crisis against what actually happened to Iraq's exports, revenue and budget.
Climate change could slash Iraq's GDP by up to 3.9% by 2030 due to water scarcity, extreme heat, and governance failures.
Enlil Center analyzes Iraq's carbon market potential — a 2025 UK MOU, the General Company for Carbon Economics, gas flaring reduction, and the governance gap standing between Iraq and credible Article 6 carbon credits.
COP29 set a $300bn-by-2035 climate finance goal. A year on, Iraq's climate pledge has grown to 22% by 2035 at COP30 — but oil still supplies 43% of GDP. Enlil traces what changed and what didn't.
As consultant to UNDP Iraq in 2024, Enlil Center mobilised ministry data, drafted the mitigation and finance sections and trained the 14-ministry committee on Article 6 carbon markets for Iraq's US$82.85 billion Climate Investment Plan.
