A Study of the Relationship between EnergyConsumption and Population Structure (Case Study: Southwest Asian Countries)

Growing importance of energy resources in the development of economicprocesses and the necessity of utilizating these resources in an environmentallysound and sustainable manner renders the study of factors affecting energyconsumption more important. The size and age structure of population are importantfactors that affect energy consumption, which have not been studied much.Therefore, this study uses the life cycle theory of consumption to explore andevaluate the impact of population size and age structure on energy consumption inSouthwest Asian countries. In addition, models are estimated using the panel datamethod.The results of estimating models suggests that variables such as GDP per capita,population size and the rate of urbanization, have a significant positive impact onenergy consumption. In addition, the changing population age structure has asignificant impact on energy consumption.Thus, knowledge of the consequences of changes in population size and agestructure on energy consumption in Iran and other regional countries can facilitatefuture planning and policy making.