TEHRAN - Iran's population growth rate is so low that the country may face the problem of closing schools in the near future, an official with the health ministry has said.

"In the past 45 years, Iran's population has grown 10 years older," ILNA quoted Sobhan Ebrahimpour as saying.

He reminded Japan's ministry of education of announcing 400 school closures in this country annually due to population decline.

"In case we do not come up with an idea for rejuvenating the population now, we may face the same problem in the near future," he added.

He went on to say that in the Iranian calendar year 1365 (March 1986-March 1987), the country’s population growth rate was 3.9 percent.

The World Health Organization has assumed several scenarios for the country's population.

In the worst-case scenario, Iran's population growth rate was supposed to reach one percent in the Iranian calendar year 1420 (March 2041-March 2042). Unfortunately, the country's population growth rate is 0.6 percent now.

Ebrahimpour noted: In the year 1365 (March 1986-March 1987), each Iranian woman of reproductive age had a total fertility rate (TFR) of 6.3 percent, but now the fertility rate in the country has dropped to 1.65 percent.

This sharp decrease in population fertility has occurred in a period of ten years;  while it takes 100 years to happen in countries such as England or America.

Population growth policy

President Ebrahim Raisi has urged all responsible bodies and organizations to adopt national policies in line with the goal of population growth.

All the institutions and organizations of the country are obliged to prepare their plans and programs within the framework of the population growth policy and follow up on their implementation seriously, he said, IRIB reported.

He referred to "population" as one of the important and key points in the 7th national development plan (2021-2026).

The president considered promoting the culture of marriage by reducing divorce and helping to solve the problem of infertility as some of the effective factors in increasing the population, which should be the priority of attention and action of all institutions.

In line with the "Law on Family and Youth Support", Iran has introduced several plans, including the facilitation of housing, low-interest loans, and longer maternity leave.

The Guardian Council approved the law on November 17, 2021, to implement a population growth and family support plan for 7 years to change the declining trend of childbearing.

The plan stipulates health insurance for infertile couples, providing services and facilities to working women, providing health and nutrition support packages to mothers and children, educational opportunities for student mothers, providing livelihood support to families, and ongoing medical services to pregnant women.

Also, as per the Law, children and family allowance of all different groups of employees in the relevant institutions, the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Intelligence, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, and also faculty members of universities and research institutions, judges and retirees will increase by 50 to 100 percent.

The national budget bill for the current [Iranian calendar] calendar year (March 2022-March 2023), has proposed 120 trillion rials (nearly $300 million) to implement childbearing and family support plans in the country.

MT/MG