Iran births drop by 3.8% in year to March: Data

TEHRAN. KAZINFORM Iran saw a 3.8% drop in its number of births in the Iranian calendar year ending on March 20, 2023, compared to the previous year, official data showed.

A total of 1,075,381 births were recorded in the period, the National Organization for Civil Registration said on Saturday. That represents a slight decline from the 1,116,211 babies who were born in the previous Iranian calendar year, IRNA reports.

Of the new births, 555,855 were boys and 519,436 were girls.

Tehran Province led other provinces, with the highest number of registered births at 137,842. It was followed by Razavi Khorasan with 101,744, and Sistan and Baluchestan Province with 89,934 cases.

Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad had the lowest birth rate with 9,908 cases, followed by Ilam with 7,426, and Semnan with 6,916.

The Iranian government has been encouraging couples to have more children to reverse the sluggish population growth, offering incentives such as subsidies and extended maternity and paternity leave.