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An Iraqi soldier stands inside a compound ISIS used as a prison in Mosul. Alkis Konstantinidis / Reuters

Agriculture is not an unimportant source of income for them, he told NBC News.

Woertz explained that ISIS had previously been able to seize the wages of civil servants who lived in militant-held zones but were still being paid government wages. However, Iraq had ended the practice of paying wages into ISIS-controlled areas, cutting off a revenue stream to the militants.

It is also not a winning brand anymore, Woertz said. When it was gaining control of areas it had an image of invincibility for a little while or was able to project that image on social media but now it is a losing brand that attracts less overseas support in the form of donations.

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As far as they want to be a state, they have failed, or are about to fail, Woertz said.

However, despite ISIS's "caliphate" project appearing increasingly unsustainable, experts warned that conditions in the region were still ripe for Islamist violence.

"A great deal will depend on effective governance in areas [liberated from ISIS]," said Butter of Chatham House. "But it is still quite a mess. There are a lot of people pushing ISIS-style ideology and they may find some receptiveness in Iraq if the country continues to be governed in the way it has been.

"ISIS as weve known it is looking very much on the way out, but something else could replace it," he added. "The ideology behind it is quite virulent.

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ISIS Revenue Falls 80 Percent as Militants Lose Ground in Iraq, Syria - NBCNews.com