TEHRAN -- Iranian Health Minister Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday elaborated on the viewpoints of the Islamic Republic of Iran with regard to solving the problems of the elderly at the Second World Assembly on Aging held in Madrid, Spain.

On the first day of the conference, Dr. Pezeshkian stressed the importance of the elderly in the world's societies and said that the issue of the elderly affects all aspects of human life, particularly economics.

He referred to the increasing number of elderly people in the 21st century and said that the number of people over 60 years old in 2050 would be two billion people, 54% of which would be in Asia.

Referring to the demography of Iran, he said that the number of people over 60 years old in Iran has doubled over the past 30 years and that currently 7.8% of the Iranian population is over 60 years old.

Pezeshkian said that by the year 2020 this figure would be about 10% of Iran's population.

He added that the average age in Iran was 16 years old in the year 1966 and 30 years later in the year 1996 the average age was 19. It is predicted that by the year 2020 the average age will rise to 32 years old.

He said that currently four million Iranians are over 60 years old, with 57% of this number living in rural regions.

The Islamic Republic of Iran intends to make use of the discussions at the Second World Assembly on Aging in order to formulate plans to solve the problems of the elderly in Iran.