Iraq: Key facts and figures

Six years after the US-led invasion, US forces have withdrawn from Iraqis towns and cities.

Millions of dollars have been spent on rebuilding the country's infrastructure, but there is still a long way to go.

STANDARD OF LIVING

An estimated 3.1% of Iraqi households - 930,000 people - are described as "food insecure" in the latest World Food Programme survey. But that represents a considerable improvement on 15.4%, the figure when the survey was last carried out in 2005.

Many Iraqi homes still do not possess items considered essential in the developed world. Although the UN reported in 2004 that car ownership had doubled since 2003, it has remained relatively static since that time at just over 23%.

By contrast, in Britain the percentage of households with access to a car is about 45% - with 26% of homes owning two cars, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). A 2007 report shows 67% of British homes owned a computer and 96% owned a washing machine.

POWER SHORTAGES

Power cuts are still a regular feature of life in Iraq, with many homes receiving electricity for less than half a day.

Electricity production is increasing - in the third quarter of 2008 it rose by 8% on the previous year, according to the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR). But demand is also on the rise as increasing numbers of Iraqis are using consumer goods like computers, refrigerators and air conditioning units.

Demand stands at around 209,000 MWh a day but only about 50% of that is being met because of fuel shortages, insufficient transmission lines and a lack of trained staff.

SANITATION

Many homes also have no running water and rely instead on wells or streams for their supplies.

An outbreak of cholera in August 2008 affected nine provinces in the country and was due to the poor standard of sanitation.

According to the WHO "outbreaks will recur in Iraq until access to safe water and proper sanitation is ensured for all people".

Diarrhoea, a symptom of other waterborne diseases, was also reported to be on the increase.

The UN says only 32% of the population have access to clean drinking water, and only 19% have access to a good sewerage system.

VIOLENCE

Allied troops are in the process of withdrawing from Iraq, but according to the Brookings Institute there are an estimated 130,000 US troops and about 500 British soldiers still in the country.

The number of deaths, military and civilian, is continuing to fall. The Iraq Body Count says between 8,315 and 9,028 civilians were reported to have died in Iraq last year - a significant drop on 2007 when between 25,774 and 27,599 people were reported to have been killed in violence.

In the first six months of 2009, 1,891 civilians died, according to IBC figures.

OIL PRODUCTION

Iraq relies on oil for much of its wealth. It has the fourth largest proven oil reserves in the world - accounting for just under 50% of its GDP, according to the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Oil production figures dipped at the start of the invasion but have since remained relatively buoyant. They have not returned to the 1979 peak of 3.5m barrels a day.