Iran Population

Iran experienced one of the most spectacular fertility declines ever recorded, plunging from around six children per woman in the 1980s to below the replacement level within a single generation. That collapse, partly the result of an earlier state family-planning drive, has left the government now worried about ageing and actively encouraging larger families. The result is a population still young today but facing unusually fast ageing ahead.

Iran is the world's 17th most populous country, home to about 92.8 million people in 2026. Set in Southern Asia, its demographic path this century turns on the balance of births, deaths and migration. It packs in roughly 57 people per square kilometre.

Iran is projected to keep growing until about 2053, when its population peaks at roughly 102 million before a gradual decline sets in, leaving it near 80.3 million by 2100. The 100 million threshold is reached around 2042.

Fertility sits at about 1.68 births per woman, below the replacement level of roughly 2.1, so without migration the population would eventually shrink.

The median age is set to climb from about 33 today to roughly 52 by 2100, even as life expectancy improves from about 78 years. A rising median age means fewer working-age people supporting each retiree over time.

These figures follow the UN's medium variant, the most widely cited scenario. The low and high variants, driven mainly by differing fertility assumptions, fan out into a wide range by 2100, so treat each number as a central estimate rather than a precise forecast.