Ghost names on the ration card: more than five million entries removed (from 2025 to 2026)

As the Ministry of Trade moved the ration card to an electronic register, it reported large numbers of entries for people who were not entitled. In April 2025 its spokesman, Mohammed Hanoun, said more than 500,000 ghost beneficiaries had been removed, that a pilot in Wasit had found about 100,000, and that removals could reach 1.5 million. On 17 December 2025 the Minister of Trade, Atheer Dawood al-Ghurairy, said more than 4.4 million fictitious, duplicated or travelling names had been found that ration agents, families or staff had not reported over 25 years. On 26 March 2026 the ministry said more than five million names had been excluded, including people abroad, duplicates, dead people and high earners covered by Council of Ministers Decision 1083 of 2025. Shafaq News reported in April 2026 government estimates that the 4.4 million names had cost about USD 500 million a year, and former MP Amir al-Maamouri put the cost of more than three million wrongful recipients at IQD 900 billion in one year.