Demographics of Iran

Demographics of Iran
Demographics of Iran
	Population pyramid of Iran in 2020
Population	85,961,000 (2024 est.)
Density	57/km2 (150/sq mi) (2024 est.)
Growth rate	0.88% (2024 est.)
Birth rate	14.3 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Death rate	5.3 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Life expectancy	75.6 years (2024 est.)
• male	74.3 years
• female	77.1 years
Fertility rate	1.44 children born/woman (2024 est.)
Infant mortality rate	14.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)
Net migration rate	−0.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	23.3% (male 10,512,797/female 10,040,282)
15–64 years	69.8% (male 31,413,125/female 30,267,241)
65 and over	7% (male 2,869,617/female 3,283,875) (2024 est.)
Sex ratio
Total	1.03 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
At birth	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.05 male(s)/female
15–64 years	1.04 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.87 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Iranian
Major ethnic	Persians
Minor ethnic	Turks; Kurds; Lurs; Baloch; Gilaks; Mazanderanis; Qashqai; Arabs; Turkmens; Talyshis; ;
Language
Official	Persian (56.6%)
Spoken	Azerbaijani (14.3%); Kurdish (9.1%); Gilaki (5.3%); Mazanderani (3.6%); Arabic (2.0%); Balochi (2.0%); Turkish (2.0%); Bakhtiari (1.3%); Turkmen (1.2%); Gujarati (0.9%); Armenian (0.2%); Others (1.5%); ;

Population of Iranian provinces and counties in 2021.

Iran's population increased dramatically during the later half of the 20th century, reaching about 80 million by 2016. As of November 2024, Iran's population is around 91.5 million. In recent years, however, Iran's birth rate has dropped significantly. Studies project that Iran's rate of population growth will continue to slow until it stabilises above 100 million by 2050. Half of Iran's population was under 35 years old in 2012. As of January 2025, the average age of the Iranian population is 32 years.

In 2009, the number of households stood at 15.3 million (4.8 persons per household). Families earn some 11.8 million rials (about $960) per month on average (2012).

According to the OECD/World Bank statistics population growth in Iran from 1990 to 2008 was 17.6 million and 32%. The literacy rate was 80% in 2002, and 85% in 2016. The fertility rate has fallen to 1.6, below the natural replacement rate of 2.1.