Member of Iran’s Cultural Revolution Council: Iran’s Population Growth to Reach Zero by 2036

The head of the Population Policy Committee of Iran’s Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution says that between 2031 and 2036, the country’s population growth rate will likely reach zero.

Mohammad Javad Mahmoudi cited emigration of Iranians abroad, the tendency of many people to have fewer children, and the structural movement of the population toward aging as factors in declining Iran’s population growth.

He stated that annually 100,000 people emigrate from Iran, which causes the population growth rate in the country to be “lower than the natural growth rate.”

Mr. Mahmoudi, referring to United Nations predictions, said that when the country’s population growth rate reaches zero, Iran’s population will likely be 95 to 96 million people.

Iran’s population growth rate has been declining over the past decade, so much so that according to the Mehr news agency report, it fell from 1.29 percent in 2011 to less than one percent in 2019.

The warning from the responsible official at the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution comes after expressing concerns by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, who has repeatedly criticized population control policies in the past.

Khamenei, referring to the population of India and China, which according to him “provided the conditions for their growth,” has called for an increase in Iran’s population.

Source: Radio Farda