The Iraqi government says 2014 was the deadliest year in the Middle Eastern nation since 2007.
According to information compiled by the health, interior, and defense ministries, at least 15,538 people were killed last year, and more than 22,000 were wounded.
The death toll is higher than in any year since 2007, when almost 18,000 people were killed during the height of Shi'ite-Sunni sectarian violence.
Last year's death toll was also more than double the 2013 toll of 6,522.
Iraq Body Count, a Britain-based NGO that tracks violence in Iraq, gave an even higher toll for 2014, saying that 17,073 civilians were killed, which would make it the third deadliest year since 2003.
