Declining TFR Causes Concern

The widespread tendency among couples to opt for a single child is a serious challenge to the national population policy.

Around 19% of Iranian families have one child. The total fertility rate (TFR) is now 1.8 in Iran, according to the recent national census, and is the lowest among Islamic countries, even below the world average of 2.1 births per woman.

“The TFR should reach the global average to make up for the significantly low rate in the past decades,” says Ali Akbar Sayyari, deputy health minister. The current TFR is a big decline from the mid-1970s and the 1980s when it was 6.4.

The elderly population now comprises 8% of the 80 million population. The figure is expected to increase to 14% and 21% in the next consecutive ten-year stages, IRNA reported.