Population Growth Rate Rises to 1.43%

The current population growth rate stands at 1.43% and Iran’s population has been estimated at 80.4 million (till the end of the first seven months of the calendar year that started March 20), said Hamid Derakhshan Nia, deputy minister of interior and head of the National Organization for Civil Registration (NOCR).

“Sistan-Baluchestan, Hormozgan, and Khorasan Razavi provinces had the highest population growth rates, while Gilan, Mazandaran and Markazi provinces the lowest,” Alef News Agency quoted him as saying.

Meanwhile, the global population in 2016 is growing at a rate of around 1.13% per year.

The official also said that by the end of March 2019, all national ID Cards will be replaced with smart cards as part of the e-governance plan. A total of 200,000 officials at 10 police offices across the country are conducting the registration process for applicants, he said.  “More than 10 million smart ID cards have been issued so far and 22 million in all will receive the new ID cards by the end of the current year in March 2017,” Derakhshan Nia said, as reported by ISNA.

The smart cards contain information regarding the identity, including name, family name, date and place of birth, photo of the person and biometric data (fingerprint) of the holder. Smart national ID cards can be used for electronic voting, and other e-services.