Estimation and Analysis of the First Demographic Dividend in Iran

It has been at least three decades since the beginning of the decline in fertility and consequently the decline in Iran's population growth rate but the effect of these changes, especially those regarding changes in the population age structure on Iranian economy are still unknown. The purpose of this study is to measure and analyze the net and direct effect of these changes on Iran's economic growth, i.e., the first demographic dividend. For this purpose, the conventional method in "National Transfer Accounts" and the age profiles of consumption and labor income based on the estimates of the "National Transfer Accounts of Iran" have been used. The first demographic dividend estimates reveal three distinct but related phases. It is negative in the first and third phases due to the increasing population of children and the elderly. The first demographic dividend becomes positive only in the middle phase (the transition phase). According to the results of this study, the share of older ages in the lifecycle deficit of Iranians will increase from about 10 percent to more than 50 percent by the middle of the fifteenth century SH. Favorable effects of changes in the population age structure of Iran as the demographic dividend will end by the first decade of the century, however demographic changes will open other windows of demographic dividend (productivity growth) whose realization requires socioeconomic planning and policy-making.