Iran reports one of lowest fertility rates in 8 years at 1.8

The number of births in Iran fell to one of its lowest in 8 years in year to March 2020 as data provided by the country’s statistics office (SCI) shows economic problems in the country have dented government efforts to encourage new births.  

Charts released by the SCI on Sunday showed that fertility rate per woman in Iran dropped by 0.2 points to 1.6 for the past calendar year.

The rate was calculated for a total of 1,196,135 births recorded over the period in Iran, a country of nearly 85 million people.

Iran had recorded 1.38 million births in 2011-2012 with a fertility rate of 1.75 per woman. The relatively low rate caused concerns among authorities and led to a series of government programs to encourage couples to have more children.

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Looser population controls caused fertility rate to reach one of its peaks in the year ending March 2016 at nearly 2 children per woman. Births recorded over that year also reached 1.57 million, one of the highest seen in years.

The SCI report said the fall in birth rate in 2019-2020 was consistent for woman across all fertility age groups, saying, however, that the decline was more visible in younger couples who are responsible for a bulk of births.

Experts believe economic problems in recent years have been a major cause of decline in fertility rate in Iran while some others point to changes in the role of women in the society, saying women still struggle to achieve a balance between work and other life demands.

Estimates by the SCI shows Iran’s population would reach 88.358 million in 2026 and 95.278 million in 2036.

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