TEHEAN – Despite offering incentives to encourage childbearing in line with youth population law, the desired growth in the youth population has not been accomplished yet.

At best, Iran's population with a total fertility rate of 2.5 will reach 102,890,000 by the next seven years, IRIB quoted Mohammad-Javad Mahmoudi, an official with the Civil Registration Organization, as saying.

According to Civil Registration Organization's report, the total fertility rate in Iranian years 1396 (2027-2018), 1397 (2018-2019), 1398 (2019-2020), 1399 (2020-2021), and 1400 (2021-2022) were 2,09, 1.95, 1,74, 1.65, 1.61 per each woman, respectively.

In the last two years, the fertility rate has stabilized around 1.6 which has intensified concerns over the decreasing trend in population growth in the coming years, and the probability of turning Iran into one of the oldest countries in the world, the official highlighted.

Health ministry plays key role

In May, Hasan Farshidi, an official with the health ministry, said two years after the enactment of the law on supporting families and the youth, investigations have shown that the health ministry has played a central role in the implementation of the law.

“Since the implementation of the law, the number of births among mothers aged 20 to 24 has notably increased,” the official added.

The rate of mothers giving birth to three children increased from 16 percent in the Iranian year 1398 (March 2019-March 2020) to 18.97 percent in 1402 (March 2023 –March 2024) and even the fourth childbirth increased from 5 percent to about 7 percent, Farshidi stated.

The health ministry’s responsibilities in the field of health and education are well-defined and it has successfully implemented more than 95 percent of its tasks in the youth law, he further noted.

Meanwhile, Saber Jabbari, the head of the health ministry’s youthful population center, has said the ministry was recognized as the best organization, implementing programs for the youth in the last year, which ended on March 19.

“A total of 32,000 nurse aides are providing health care services in rural and urban areas. Also, 22,000 health care providers offer fertility services in urban areas, with 13,809 of them being midwives,” Jabari further noted.

There are 10,200 midwives working in delivery rooms.  Also, Jabbari added that 2,086 and 6,689 gynecologists work in state-run and private centers.

Over 188,000 registered births were third-born, more than 63,000 births were fourth-born, and over 20,000 were fifth-born children.

A total of 462 marriage education centers are active in the country training various topics such as sexual health, fertility, and the complications of the prevention of pregnancy to young couples.

Fertility rate should reach 2.5

In November 2023, Jabbari said that the total fertility rate should reach 2.5 from 1.66 before the closure of the demographic window in the next five years.

“The country is on the threshold of aging; to tackle this crisis, we must promote childbearing and youth population,” IRNA quoted Jabbari as saying.

Over the last 30 years, the total fertility rate of the country has declined, but in the Iranian calendar year 1401 (March 2022–March 2023), the downward trend in fertility came to a halt, he added.

“Carrying out programs that are focusing on the youth population at the national level is a strategy to increase the total fertility rate,” Jabbari stressed.

MT/MG