TEHRAN – A total of 199,727 marriages and 65,355 divorces were registered across the country during the first four months of the current [Iranian calendar] year which began on March 21.

Of the total number of marriages registered in the first four months of this year, the most are related to the provinces of Tehran with 26,068 cases, Khorasan Razavi with 17,409 cases, and Khuzestan with 15,191 cases, ISNA reported.

Also, at the same time, the lowest number of marriages registered in the country were related to the provinces of Semnan with 1,200, Ilam with 1,581, and Kohgiluyeh-Boyerahmad with 2,524 marriages, according to the Civil Registration Organization.

Moreover, the lowest number of divorces occurred in the provinces of Ilam, South Khorasan, and Kohgiluyeh-Boyerahmad with 347 cases, 497 cases, and 680 cases, respectively.

However, the highest number of divorces registered in the country were related to the provinces of Tehran with 10,769 cases, Khorasan Razavi with 7,038 cases, and Isfahan with 3,475 cases.

In March 2022, the Majlis (Iranian Parliament) approved to implement a population growth and family support plan for 7 years to change the declining trend of childbearing.

The plan stipulates health insurance for infertile couples, providing services and facilities to working women, providing health and nutrition support packages to mothers and children, educational opportunities for student mothers, providing livelihood support to families, and ongoing medical services to pregnant women.

As the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has emphasized that the national development plans should focus on population growth, and on the other hand, the Expediency Council seeks a one-year extension of the Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021), it was decided to implement the plan for 7 years.

The downward trend of population growth gradually decreases and reaches zero, then becomes negative. Negative population growth causes the population to disappear in the long run.

It is estimated that population growth will reach zero in 2040 and then becomes negative, so the biggest concern is that Iran's population will age in the coming years, fertility will decline, and the population of youth will decrease.

MG