The employment rate of people 65 years and above has declined in the past few years, data released by the Statistical Center of Iran show.
The employment rate of this age group in the fiscal 2011-12 stood at 13.7%, which figure started to decline and hit 11.5% in the fiscal 2019-20, registering a 2.2% decline.
The number of working people over 65 years was higher in rural areas than in urban areas, IRNA reported.
The employment rate of seniors was higher than that of women.
According to the Social Security Organization's law approved in the fiscal 1975-78, the minimum age for retirement is 55 with 30 years of work, or 60 with less than 30 years of experience.
Latest data released by SCI show Iran’s unemployment rate, the proportion of jobless population of ages 15 and above, stood at 9.7% in the fourth quarter of last fiscal year (Dec. 21, 2020-March 20), indicating a 0.9% decline compared with the same period of the year before.
The Statistical Center of Iran put Q4 labor force participation rate — the proportion of the population of ages 15 and above that is economically active either employed or looking for a job — at 40.9%, registering a 1.5% decrease year-on-year.
Employment is defined as persons of working age engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services for pay or profit, whether at work during the reference period or not at work due to a temporary absence from a job, or to working-time arrangement.
The total number of employed population was 23.13 million, down 300,000 compared with the same quarter of the previous Iranian year.
The services sector employed 50.4% of the Iranian employed population, as industrial and agricultural sectors provided 33.8% and 15.8% of jobs respectively.
The services sector consists of wholesale and retail trade; restaurants and hotels; transport, storage and communications; financing, insurance, real estate and business services; and community, social, education, health and personal services.
The center provides two figures for the youth unemployment rate: the proportion of those between 15 and 24 years and those between 18 and 35 years.
The youth unemployment rate of those between 15 and 24 years stood at 23.6% in Q4, posting a 2.1% decrease while the unemployment rate of those between 18 and 35 years stood at 16.8%, posting a decline of 1% YOY.
Underemployment, the condition in which people in a labor force are employed for less than 44 hours of service per week, stood at 10.8%.
Of the employed population, 33.9% worked more than 49 hours per week.
