Iraq, nominally the 52nd largest world economy and the 35th largest at purchasing power parity (PPP), is the oil supplier of many countries. With the positive impact of the expansionary fiscal policy implemented in recent years, structural reforms and decreasing geopolitical risks, the Iraq economy, which contracted in the 2017-2018 period, started to grow again in 2019. It is both Turkey's border neighbor and the largest trade partner in the Middle East and Gulf region.

The recovery process of Iraq, which started with an economic growth of more than 50% in 2014, slowed down with the capture of Mosul by the terrorist organization DAESH in the same year, but continued until 2016. With a population of 39.3 million, Iraq is the 36th most populous country in the world. In 2019, the labor force participation rate is 44.5% and the unemployment rate is 8%. 58% of the workforce is employed in the services sector and 23% in the industrial sector. The size of Iraq's GDP in 2019 is 234 billion dollars at current prices. According to the data of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Iraqi economy, which grew by 3.9% annually in real terms in 2019, is expected to contract by -4.7% in 2020 with the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Comtrade data, Turkey exported $ 10.2 billion to Iraq in 2019, and imported $ 2.6 billion from Iraq. Iraq, where our bilateral trade volume reaches 12.9 billion dollars, is our 8th largest trade partner and the country with the highest net exports.