Matchup file

Iran vs Iraq

115 shared metrics.

IranLeads in 70

vs115 shared

IraqLeads in 45

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Iran leads by 25 metrics. Use the same instinct in a quick real-data brawl.

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Country briefing

What matters for both sides

Short real-world notes so the comparison reads like more than a stat strip.

Iran

Quick notes before you compare the numbers.

Identity

Formal name: Islamic Republic of Iran.

CIA 2026

Curated stat

Iran's qanats move water for kilometres underground by gravity, keeping dry settlements alive.

UNESCO

Iraq

Quick notes before you compare the numbers.

Identity

Formal name: Republic of Iraq.

CIA 2026

Curated stat

Southern Iraq's Ahwar is one of the world's largest inland delta systems in a hot, arid environment.

UNESCO

Analysis

Iran leads in 70 of 115 shared metrics, while Iraq leads in 45.

Iran's All-Time Olympic Medals is 87.0x that of Iraq (88 medals vs 1.0 medals).

Iran's Coastline Length is 41.1x that of Iraq (2.4K km vs 58 km).

Iran's Capital Elevation is 33.7x that of Iraq (1.2K m vs 34 m).

Iran's R&D Spending (% GDP) is 16.9x that of Iraq (0.73% of GDP vs 0.04% of GDP).

Iran's Domestic Patents is 15.1x that of Iraq (10.2K vs 635).

Key Comparisons

All-Time Olympic MedalsIran leads

Iran

88 medals

Iraq

1.0 medals

Coastline LengthIran leads

Iran

2.4K km

Iraq

58 km

Capital ElevationIran leads

Iran

1.2K m

Iraq

34 m

R&D Spending (% GDP)Iran leads

Iran

0.73% of GDP

Iraq

0.04% of GDP

Domestic PatentsIran leads

Iran

10.2K

Iraq

635

ResearchersIran leads

Iran

85.98% of adults

Iraq

24.98% of adults

244% higher

Comparison of Iran and Iraq across 115 metrics
				Winner
All-Time Olympic Medals	88 medals	1.0 medals	8700% higher	Iran
Coastline Length	2.4K km	58 km	4107% higher	Iran
Capital Elevation	1.2K m	34 m	3368% higher	Iran
R&D Spending (% GDP)	0.73% of GDP	0.04% of GDP	1686% higher	Iran
Domestic Patents	10.2K	635	1508% higher	Iran
Researchers	2.2K per 1M	164.28 per 1M	1263% higher	Iran
Forest Area	107.9K km²	8.3K km²	1208% higher	Iran
Merchant Fleet Size	965	74	1204% higher	Iran
ATMs per 100,000 Adults	88.65 per 100k	14.1 per 100k	529% higher	Iran
Foreign Patents	581	98	493% higher	Iran
Protected Land (%)	8.6%	1.5%	473% higher	Iran
UNESCO World Heritage Sites	29 sites	6.0 sites	383% higher	Iran
Air Passengers	18.07M	3.76M	381% higher	Iran
Scientific Publications	60.9K	13.4K	355% higher	Iran
Seafood Consumption per Person	12.14 kg/person/yr	2.9 kg/person/yr	316% higher	Iran
Land Area	1.62M km²	434.1K km²	274% higher	Iran
Railway Length	8.5K km	2.3K km	273% higher	Iran
Forest Coverage (%)	6.6%	1.9%	250% higher	Iran
Total CO2 Emissions	828.99 Mt CO2e	238.67 Mt CO2e	247% higher	Iran
Digital Payments Used	85.98% of adults	24.98% of adults	244% higher	Iran
Electric Generating Capacity	86.06M kW	31.34M kW	175% higher	Iran
Electricity Use (Per Capita)	3.7K kWh/person	1.4K kWh/person	167% higher	Iran
Airports	183	69	165% higher	Iran
Renewable Energy (%)	1.4%	0.58%	145% higher	Iran
Elderly Population (%)	8.2%	3.4%	141% higher	Iran
Vehicles per 1,000 People	357.26 per 1k people	153.77 per 1k people	132% higher	Iran
Energy Use (Per Capita)	3.3K kg oil eq/person	1.4K kg oil eq/person	131% higher	Iran
Electricity Generation	387.78 TWh	169.46 TWh	129% higher	Iran
Irrigated Land	79.7K km²	35.3K km²	126% higher	Iran
Water Withdrawal	92.95 B m³	42.42 B m³	119% higher	Iran
Alcohol Consumption	0.51 L/adult/yr	0.24 L/adult/yr	113% higher	Iran
Milk Consumption per Person	46.69 kg/person/yr	22.18 kg/person/yr	111% higher	Iran
Population	89.18M	42.92M	108% higher	Iran
Women in Parliament (%)	4.8%	28.88%	83% lower	Iraq
Doctors (per 1,000)	1.8 per 1k	1.0 per 1k	77% higher	Iran
Mobile Subscriptions (%)	174 per 100 people	100 per 100 people	74% higher	Iran
CO2 Per Capita	8.7 t/person/yr	5.1 t/person/yr	71% higher	Iran
Freedom of Expression Index	0.17	0.57	71% lower	Iraq
GDP (Nominal)	$475,252,089,215.42	$279,641,257,615.39	70% higher	Iran
Median Age	32.9 years	20.3 years	62% higher	Iran
Safe Drinking Water (%)	94.41%	59.83%	58% higher	Iran
Electoral Democracy Index	0.16	0.37	57% lower	Iraq
Highest Elevation	5.6K m	3.6K m	56% higher	Iran
Teen Birth Rate	26.2 per 1k	58.01 per 1k	55% lower	Iraq
Land Border Length	5.9K km	3.8K km	55% higher	Iran
Spirits Consumption	0.02 L/person/yr	0.04 L/person/yr	53% lower	Iraq
Liberal Democracy Index	0.10	0.22	53% lower	Iraq
Birth Rate	11.24 per 1k	23.26 per 1k	52% lower	Iraq
Time Zones Count	3.0 time zones	2.0 time zones	50% higher	Iran
Fertility Rate	1.5 children/woman	3.0 children/woman	50% lower	Iraq
Official Languages Count	1.0	2.0	50% lower	Iraq
Infant Mortality	10.7 per 1k births	20.8 per 1k births	49% lower	Iraq
Child Mortality	11.8 per 1k births	22.6 per 1k births	48% lower	Iraq
Average Weekly Work Hours	46.78 hrs/week	31.71 hrs/week	48% higher	Iran
Nobel Laureates Born per Million People	0.03 per 1M people	0.02 per 1M people	48% higher	Iran
Beer Consumption	0.06 L/person/yr	0.11 L/person/yr	46% lower	Iraq
Population Density	55.85 /km²	103.83 /km²	46% lower	Iraq
Hospital Beds (per 1,000)	1.9 per 1k	1.3 per 1k	46% higher	Iran
Government Debt (% GDP)	39.5% of GDP	27.4% of GDP	44% higher	Iran
Hypertension Prevalence	27% of adults	47.4% of adults	43% lower	Iraq
Women's Political Empowerment	0.32	0.56	42% lower	Iraq
Armed Forces Personnel	650.0K	459.0K	42% higher	Iran
Tobacco Use Prevalence	11.9% of adults	20.1% of adults	41% lower	Iraq
Unemployment Rate	9.2%	15.52%	41% lower	Iraq
Water Stress (%)	72.33%	120.52%	40% lower	Iraq
EV Chargers per 100,000 PeopleSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)	0.04 per 100k people	0.06 per 100k people	40% lower	Iraq
Youth Population (%)	22.44%	36.58%	39% lower	Iraq
Exports (% GDP)	23.55% of GDP	37.51% of GDP	37% lower	Iraq
Suicide Rate	4.1 per 100k	3.0 per 100k	37% higher	Iran
GDP Per Capita (PPP)	$19,873.89	$14,464.32	37% higher	Iran
Dependency Ratio	44.26% of working-age pop.	66.65% of working-age pop.	34% lower	Iraq
Food Waste per Person	134.86 kg/person/yr	204.97 kg/person/yr	34% lower	Iraq
Agricultural Land (%)	29.01%	21.83%	33% higher	Iran
Obesity Rate	25.26%	37.36%	32% lower	Iraq
Youth Unemployment Rate	21.9% of youth labor force	32.01% of youth labor force	32% lower	Iraq
Smoking Rate	13.3%	19.2%	31% lower	Iraq
Minimum Paid Vacation Days	26 days/yr	20 days/yr	30% higher	Iran
Broadband Access (%)	12 per 100 people	17 per 100 people	29% lower	Iraq
Health Spending (% GDP)	5.3% of GDP	4.3% of GDP	25% higher	Iran
Women in Senior Management	21.36% of managers	17.53% of managers	22% higher	Iran
Credit Card Ownership	12.36% of adults	10.12% of adults	22% higher	Iran
Solar Electricity Share	0.23%	0.29%	21% lower	Iraq
Inequality (Gini)	35.9	29.8	20% higher	Iran
Corruption Perceptions Index	23 pts	28 pts	18% lower	Iraq
Renewable Energy (%)	0.90%	1.1%	18% lower	Iraq
Border Neighbors	7.0	6.0	17% higher	Iran
Human Development Index	0.80	0.69	15% higher	Iran
GNI Per Capita	$5,130	$6,030	15% lower	Iraq
Death Rate	4.4 per 1k	3.9 per 1k	15% higher	Iran
Air Pollution (PM2.5)	32.29 µg/m³	38.18 µg/m³	15% lower	Iraq
Military Spending	2.0% of GDP	2.4% of GDP	15% lower	Iraq
Political Corruption Index	0.77	0.89	14% lower	Iraq
Imports (% GDP)	28.51% of GDP	33.2% of GDP	14% lower	Iraq
Insufficient Physical Activity	44.73% of adults	52.02% of adults	14% lower	Iraq
Mobile Money Accounts	13.1% of adults	11.87% of adults	10% higher	Iran
Urban Population (%)	77.02%	69.89%	10% higher	Iran
Sanitation Access (%)	90.46%	98.5%	8% lower	Iraq
Life Expectancy	77.7 years	72.3 years	7% higher	Iran
Health Spending Per Capita	$237.83	$254.62	7% lower	Iraq
Adult Literacy Rate	88.92%	84.06%	6% higher	Iran
Road Traffic Death Rate	20.6 per 100k	21.5 per 100k	4% lower	Iraq
Electricity Carbon Intensity	659.53 gCO2/kWh	683.1 gCO2/kWh	3% lower	Iraq
Internet Users (%)	80%	82%	2% lower	Iraq
Life Evaluation Score	5.2 pts	5.2 pts	1% lower	Iraq
Can Raise Emergency Money	96.71% of adults	95.98% of adults	1% higher	Iran
Coal Electricity Share	0.18%	0%	ranked higher	Iran
Wind Electricity Share	0.32%	0%	ranked higher	Iran
Electricity Access (%)	100%	100%	equal	Iraq
Inflation Rate	32.5%	-12.3%	ranked higher	Iran
GDP Growth Rate	3.7%	-1.55%	ranked higher	Iran
Lowest Elevation	-28 m	0 m	ranked lower	Iraq
Current Account Balance (% of GDP)	0.60% of GDP	-1.7% of GDP	ranked higher	Iran
FDI Inflows (% GDP)	0.30% of GDP	-2.74% of GDP	ranked higher	Iran
All-Time Olympic Gold Medals	27 gold medals	0 gold medals	ranked higher	Iran
McDonald's Outlets per Million PeopleSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)	0 per 1M people	0 per 1M people	ranked lower	Iraq

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Analysis

Iran leads in 70 of 115 shared metrics, while Iraq leads in 45.

Iran's All-Time Olympic Medals is 87.0x that of Iraq (88 medals vs 1.0 medals).

Iran's Coastline Length is 41.1x that of Iraq (2.4K km vs 58 km).

Iran's Capital Elevation is 33.7x that of Iraq (1.2K m vs 34 m).

Iran's R&D Spending (% GDP) is 16.9x that of Iraq (0.73% of GDP vs 0.04% of GDP).

Iran's Domestic Patents is 15.1x that of Iraq (10.2K vs 635).

Key Comparisons

All-Time Olympic MedalsIran leads

Iran

88 medals

Iraq

1.0 medals

Coastline LengthIran leads

Iran

2.4K km

Iraq

58 km

Capital ElevationIran leads

Iran

1.2K m

Iraq

34 m

R&D Spending (% GDP)Iran leads

Iran

0.73% of GDP

Iraq

0.04% of GDP

Domestic PatentsIran leads

Iran

10.2K

Iraq

635

ResearchersIran leads

Iran

2.2K per 1M

Iraq

164.28 per 1M

All-Time Olympic Medals

88 medals

1.0 medals

Coastline Length

2.4K km

58 km

Capital Elevation

1.2K m

34 m

R&D Spending (% GDP)

0.73% of GDP

0.04% of GDP

Domestic Patents

10.2K

635

Researchers

2.2K per 1M

164.28 per 1M

Forest Area

107.9K km²

8.3K km²

Merchant Fleet Size

965

ATMs per 100,000 Adults

88.65 per 100k

14.1 per 100k

Foreign Patents

581

Protected Land (%)

8.6%

1.5%

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

29 sites

6.0 sites

Air Passengers

18.07M

3.76M

Scientific Publications

60.9K

13.4K

Seafood Consumption per Person

12.14 kg/person/yr

2.9 kg/person/yr

Land Area

1.62M km²

434.1K km²

Railway Length

8.5K km

2.3K km

Forest Coverage (%)

6.6%

1.9%

Total CO2 Emissions

828.99 Mt CO2e

238.67 Mt CO2e

Digital Payments Used

85.98% of adults

24.98% of adults

Iran vs Iraq

Think you can spot the next winner?

What matters for both sides

Iran

Iraq

Analysis

Key Comparisons

All Metrics

All-Time Olympic Medals

Coastline Length

Capital Elevation

R&D Spending (% GDP)

Domestic Patents

Researchers

Forest Area

Merchant Fleet Size

ATMs per 100,000 Adults

Foreign Patents

Protected Land (%)

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Air Passengers

Scientific Publications

Seafood Consumption per Person

Land Area

Railway Length

Forest Coverage (%)

Total CO2 Emissions

Digital Payments Used

Electric Generating Capacity

Electricity Use (Per Capita)

Airports

Renewable Energy (%)

Elderly Population (%)

Vehicles per 1,000 People

Energy Use (Per Capita)

Electricity Generation

Irrigated Land

Water Withdrawal

Alcohol Consumption

Milk Consumption per Person

Population

Women in Parliament (%)

Doctors (per 1,000)

Mobile Subscriptions (%)

CO2 Per Capita

Freedom of Expression Index

GDP (Nominal)

Median Age

Safe Drinking Water (%)

Electoral Democracy Index

Highest Elevation

Teen Birth Rate

Land Border Length

Spirits Consumption

Liberal Democracy Index

Birth Rate

Time Zones Count

Fertility Rate

Official Languages Count

Infant Mortality

Child Mortality

Average Weekly Work Hours

Nobel Laureates Born per Million People

Beer Consumption

Population Density

Hospital Beds (per 1,000)

Government Debt (% GDP)

Hypertension Prevalence

Women's Political Empowerment

Armed Forces Personnel

Tobacco Use Prevalence

Unemployment Rate

Water Stress (%)

EV Chargers per 100,000 People

Youth Population (%)

Exports (% GDP)

Suicide Rate

GDP Per Capita (PPP)

Dependency Ratio

Food Waste per Person