Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 3
By Temkin Jafarov - Trend:
Currently, senior citizens make up 8.2 percent of the population of Iran, Farid Barati, the head of Iranian State Welfare Organization's Secretariat of National Council on Older People said, fararu.com Iranian news site reported.
He said that the aging process will accelerate in the country after 2021.
"If 12 percent of population accounts for old persons, this society is considered elderly," said Barati. "Iran has not yet reached that figure, however, in some districts this figure approaches 12 percent."
The secretary of the national council went on to add that the limit of old age is close to 11 percent in the province of Gilan and 10 percent in Tehran and the provinces of West Azerbaijan.
Barati also said that up to 2036, the number of elderly will reach 12 million in Iran.
"Currently, 2.5 million elderly people receive funds from the pension fund," said Barati.
"The same number of elderly people is under the care of the Imam Khomeini Imdad Committee. No help at all is provided to around two million elderly people in the country. Of course, this figure is inaccurate. It is for sure that the number of elderly people among the population with low income is growing."
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @JafarovTemkin