The Iraqi Digital Network (DIN) revealed a significant surge in political advertising spending during the 2025 Iraqi parliamentary elections, confirming that total advertising expenditure on Facebook alone exceeded 5 billion Iraqi dinars, representing a 500% increase compared to the 2021 elections.
In a statement, the network indicated that these figures reflect Facebook's transformation into a central arena for political competition, as election campaigns now rely on it as a primary tool for shaping public discourse and targeting voters.
According to the report, Baghdad topped the list of spenders with over 1.5 billion dinars, distributed among the pages of political parties, candidates, and media outlets that adopted diverse political agendas.
Nineveh Governorate came in second with an estimated expenditure of half a billion dinars, followed by Sulaymaniyah with approximately 340 million dinars, then Erbil with roughly the same amount. Dhi Qar ranked fifth with 320 million dinars. Halabja saw the lowest spending, with political advertising expenditures not exceeding 16 million dinars.
The report indicated that advertising spending continued even during the official campaign silence period. The network observed the continued publication of political ads the day before the general election, with total spending exceeding 160 million dinars across Iraq. Most of these ads promoted old posts that were reactivated to maintain influence over voters.
According to the network's data, the number of Facebook users in Iraq reached approximately 21.5 million, an increase of 1.1 million users compared to the previous year. This made the digital platform even more influential in shaping the electoral landscape.
It is worth noting that a previous report by the Iraq Digital Network indicated that nearly one billion Iraqi dinars were spent on 44,000 political advertisements during the 2021 parliamentary elections, confirming the continued rise of the digital role in shaping the political and electoral landscape in the country.
The network's analysis team believes that the large amount of spending on advertising across social media platforms indicates a practical change in the tools of electoral influence, as these ads allow for redrawing the image of public opinion and shaping voters' priorities.
5 billion dinars spent on political advertising in the Iraqi elections
