Iran’s Population Aging

EghtesadOnline: The number of older persons in the world is growing faster than the number of people in all younger age groups and Iran is no exception.

News ID: ۷۸۶۴۷۵

23 May 2021

According to the data released by the Statistical Center of Iran in the fiscal 2016-17, Iran's population stood at 79,926,270 – 9,430,488 more than the fiscal 2006-07.

SCI conducts a population census every 10 years.

The rise in population from the fiscal 2006-07 to fiscal 2011-12 reached 4,653,887 with an average growth of 1.29% and the increase from the fiscal 2011-12 to fiscal 2016-17 stood at 4,776,601 with an average growth of 1.24%, according to Javad Hosseinzadeh, the head of SCI.

Following a second wave of population growth, the rate was expected to be more than 1.5%, but it seems that cultural and social factors such as the rising level of literacy and education, especially among women, urbanization, industrialization, growth in living costs and the tendency of families to have fewer children have reduced the average annual growth of the country's population.

According to SCI, the population in urban areas increased at an average annual rate of 1.97% during the five-year period under review while in rural areas it decreased at the rate of 0.68%.

The country's urbanization ratio stood at 74% while the ruralization ratio was 30%.

SCI estimates that Iran's population of those who are 65 and older will increase from 4,871,518 in the fiscal 2016-17 to 18,987,445 in the fiscal 2051-22.

People who were born in the 1980s – currently in their youth and adulthood – will be 65 or older in three or four decades. These people constitute most of the youth population of Iran. Therefore, it is estimated that the young population will age in 30 years.

“Like many countries, Iran’s population is aging due to factors like low fertility and improved healthcare, both of which are triumphs of development,” explained Leila Joudane, the United Nations Population Fund’s representative in Iran. “Nonetheless, an aging population comes with challenges as well, that we must address if we are to convert them into opportunities.”

Today, as in several other countries, many of Iran’s older persons are highly vulnerable. Many face financial challenges. Some are becoming disabled or facing discrimination.

UNFPA is working with its government partners to support research into the phenomenon of Iran’s aging population and promote the adoption of policies that support older people and meet their needs.

Tehran Province's Population to Hit 20m in 5 Years

Tehran Province's population is expected to reach 20 million in five years whereas Tehran is the 25th most populous city in the world.

“Between 200,000 and 250,000 people are added to Tehran's population each year,” Masoud Shafiei the head of the Management and Planning Organization of Tehran Province, was quoted as saying by ILNA.

This increase in population includes immigrants from other cities and villages as well as foreign countries.

The SCI data show that the population of the capital city Tehran increased by 6.6% over five years from the fiscal 2011-12 to 2016-17.

SCI estimates that 8,693,706 people and 2,903,435 households lived in Tehran in the year ending March 2017.

Of the 8,693,706 people who lived in Tehran, 17.4% were between 0 and 14 years old, 74.1% were between 15 and 64 years old and 8.4% were 65 years or older.

The size of households reduced by 0.1 people to stand at three members per household in the year ending March 2017 compared with the year ending March 2012.

Of the 2,903,435 households living in Tehran, 84.2% (or 2,445,016 households) had male breadwinners and 15.8% (or 458,419 households) had female breadwinners, suggesting that one out of six households had women as the head of the family.

The relative frequency of households with women as the householder has increased by 0.4% from 15.4% to 15.8% over the five years.

New migrants (those who moved to Tehran from March 2012-17) accounted for 4.7% or 404,996 people of Tehran’s population in the year ending March 2017.

The findings of the National Population and Housing Census also show 94.8% or 7,638,837 of people living in Tehran were literate and 5.1% or 414,162 were illiterate in the year ending March 2017.

Out of 2,888,713 households living in apartments or houses in the city, 1,432,136 (49.6%) were the owners of residential units and 1,208,710 households (41.8%) were renters.