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Over 30 percent of young Iranians unmarried

Society Materials 27 January 2015 17:45 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 27

By Umid Niayesh - Trend:

Over 12 million of Iranians aged 20 to 35 years are not married, Jalil Dorouzi, an official with Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS) said, the country's official IRNA news agency reported Jan. 27.

The figure is equal to 30 percent of young Iranians, Dorouzi said.

He expressed concern that the average marriage age is rising in the country in recent 10 years, remarking that as a serious social problem. Average marriage age for men is about 28, meanwhile the figure for women stands at 24 currently, he added.

Dorouzi said that Iran's population growth rate has reached 1.7 percent. This figure is alarming and should be more than 2.1 percent, he added.

Iran has started to review the contraception policies in the country in recent years. The Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned the country's policy on contraception, saying it too closely reflects the western lifestyle.

He said that a population of 150 million to 200 million would be ideal for Iran.

Currently Iran's population stands at over 77 million people.

Last year, Khamenei announced a list of general policies regarding the population increase in the country including lowering age of marriage, facilitate and promote of marriage and child raising, lifting marriage obstacles as well as coverage of insurance for infertility treatment costs.

Edited by CN

Follow the author on Twitter: @UmidNiayesh

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