Setad Foundation (Headquarters for Executing the Decree of Imam Khomeini on helping the underprivileged) will grant mothers who have their fourth child 10 million rials ($40) as a gift, plus 20 million rials ($80) worth of stock shares to the child, two-year supplemental insurance for mother and child, and 100 million rials ($400) worth of coupon for purchasing baby formula, food and diapers.
According to Seyyed Abdollah Arjaei, an official with the Setad, the scheme dubbed “3+ Club” intends to encourage childbearing and will be piloted in Qom Province and then throughout the country.
“A program to support 10,000 infertile couples has been designed as well: applicants who have registered at http://1542.ir/ will receive an infertility treatment grant worth 10 million rials and 100 million rials worth of loan at the interest rate of 4%,” he was quoted as saying by ILNA.
According to latest data released by the Statistical Center of Iran in the fiscal 2016-17, Iran's population stood at 79,926,270, which is 9,430,488 more than fiscal 2006-07.
SCI conducts a population census every 10 years.
The rise in population from the fiscal 2006-07 to fiscal 2011-12 hit 4,653,887 with an average growth of 1.29%, and the increase from 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 percent, however it seems that the contribution of cultural and social factors such as the rise in the level of literacy and education, especially among women, urbanization, industrialization, growth in living costs and the tendency of families for having fewer children have reduced 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 as it is decreasing at 0.68% in rural areas.
The country's urbanization ratio stood at 74% while the ruralization ratio was 30%.
SCI estimates that Iran's population of people 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 actually form most of the youth population in Iran. Therefore, it is estimated that currently, the young population of Iran will transform into an elderly population in 30 years.
“Like many countries, Iran’s population is aging due to factors like low fertility rates 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 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 Five Years
Tehran Province's population is expected to reach 20 million in five years. Tehran is the 25th most populous city in the world and its population is increasing every year.
“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.
Latest data released by the Statistical Center of Iran show the population of the capital city Tehran increased by 6.6% over five years from the fiscal year ending March 2012 to the year ending March 2017.
SCI estimated 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% between 15 and 64 years old, and 8.4% were 65 years or older.
The size of household 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 householder has increased 0.4% from 15.4% to 15.8% over 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 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 owners of residential units and 1,208,710 households (41.8%) were renters.
About 87.4% of the residential units in Tehran in the year ending March 2017 were apartments and 12.7% were properties other than apartments.
