
Telecommunication in Iraq
Compared to the United States, Iraq is massively lagging behind in the development of telecommunications. Under the country code +964, there were a total of 40.70 million connections in 2021. Among them were 37.65 million mobile phones, which corresponds to an average of 0.86 per person. In the US, this figure is 1.1 mobile phones per person.With about 26 webhosts, Iraq is below the world's average by population.
Back to overview: Iraq
Development of telephone and internet connections
With an average download speed of 21.55 Mbit/second for fixed-network broadband internet, Iraq ranks 124th in an international comparison. The upload rate was only 18.80 Mbit/second (91st place).In mobile internet, i.e., on tablets and smartphones, Iraq comes 60th with a download speed of 32.99 Mbit/second. The upload speed of around 16 Mbit was enough for 18th place.
The Speedtest Global Index published regularly by Ookla is based on several million individual measurements in October 2022 from 180 countries.
The following diagrams show the development of the various telephone and internet connections as a percentage of the country's population. Values above 100 percent mean that, on average, every inhabitant has more than one connection.
Access to the internet in Iraq from 1990 - 2019
Broadband internet in Iraq 2006 - 2021

Landlines 1990 - 2021
Mobile phones 1990 - 2021
Distribution in 2021 | Iraq Total | Iraq percent | USA Total | USA percent |
---|---|---|---|---|
Broadband users | 6.59 m | 15.13 % | 127.03 m | 38.27 % |
Landlines | 3.05 m | 7.00 % | 97.11 m | 29.26 % |
Mobile cellulars | 37.65 m | 86.48 % | 361.62 m | 108.96 % |