In 1800, the population of the modern-day territory of Iran was approximately 6.3 million. This figure would see modest growth throughout the 19th century, as several wars and a mass famine in 1870-1871 (modern estimates put its death toll at around 1.5 million people) were largely balanced out by a surge in migration to Iran; this migration came as the Russian Empire expanded into the Caucuses, and caused a wave of refugees to flee southwards to avoid forced expulsion and ethnic cleansing in the North Caucasus region, particularly from 1864 onwards. As a result, the population of Iran reached ten million by the turn of the 20th century.

Twentieth century growth Iran’s population would begin to grow rapidly in the 20th century, as the discovery of oil in the country in 1908 led to an economic boom, and the socio-economic reforms implemented under Reza Shah would see a number of medical and healthcare advancements across the country. Although unpopular with religious fundamentalists, Reza Shah's reforms had long-term influence on the demographic development of Iran, even after his abdication in 1941. Following the Second World War, Iran became increasingly westernized and developed relatively strong relations with the U.S.; however, western influence, economic imbalances and the oppression of the Mohammed Reza Shah's regime became the driving forces behind the Iranian Revolution, which was one of the most significant moments in the history of the region.

Growth after the Revolution The 1979 Iranian Revolution saw the removal of the Shah and an end to Iran's so called westernization; the monarchy was replaced by an Islamic, theocratic regime led by the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. During Khomeini's decade in charge he oversaw Iran's transition into an Islamic Republic, which implemented radical political and cultural changes in the country, and this coincided with an increased population growth rate in the 1980s. This growth was promoted by the Iranian government, who encouraged a baby boom during the Iran–Iraq War between 1980 and 1988, as part of an effort to increase future Iranian military manpower. As a result of this strategy, the population of Iran would grow from approximately 38.6 million in 1980 to over 56 million just a decade later. Following the implementation of a UN-brokered ceasefire in 1988, population growth in Iran would slow, as economic sanctions and government implementation of family planning policies would lead to a drop in fertility. Population growth has continued steadily into the 21st century, however, and in 2020, Iran is estimated to have a population of 84 million.

In 2020, around 98.5 percent of the Iranian population identified as Muslim. Around 81 percent identified as Shia Muslims in the same year, while a much smaller share followed the Sunni Muslim religion. In Iran, most Sunni Muslims belong to ethnic minority groups.

Iran’s demographics
The total population in Iran has grown steadily and is expected to surpass 90 million in 2028. The vast majority of the population in the country was between 15 and 64 years of age. At the same time, the share of people aged above 64 increased in recent years and constituted over seven percent of the total population.

Muslim population worldwide

In Europe, it was estimated that the Muslim population could triple by the middle of the century. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia had the largest share of Muslims as a proportion of its population. On the African continent, the highest number of Muslims was estimated in Nigeria, with close to a hundred million Islam followers. In the United States, less than one percent of the population identified as Muslims.

International migrant stock is the number of people born in a country other than that in which they live. It also includes refugees. The data used to estimate the international migrant stock at a particular time are obtained mainly from population censuses. The estimates are derived from the data on foreign-born population--people who have residence in one country but were born in another country. When data on the foreign-born population are not available, data on foreign population--that is, people who are citizens of a country other than the country in which they reside--are used as estimates. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 people living in one of the newly independent countries who were born in another were classified as international migrants. Estimates of migrant stock in the newly independent states from 1990 on are based on the 1989 census of the Soviet Union. For countries with information on the international migrant stock for at least two points in time, interpolation or extrapolation was used to estimate the international migrant stock on July 1 of the reference years. For countries with only one observation, estimates for the reference years were derived using rates of change in the migrant stock in the years preceding or following the single observation available. A model was used to estimate migrants for countries that had no data.

Chart and table of the Iran net migration rate from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

The Gross Domestic Product per capita in Iran was last recorded at 15912.03 US dollars in 2023, when adjusted by purchasing power parity (PPP). The GDP per Capita, in Iran, when adjusted by Purchasing Power Parity is equivalent to 90 percent of the world's average. This dataset provides - Iran GDP per capita PPP - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

In 2019, 66 percent of respondents from Israel said that they supported the United States' withdrawal from the Iran nuclear weapons agreement. However, 13 percent of respondents from Russia said they supported the U.S. from withdrawing from the Iran nuclear weapons agreement.

The Gross Domestic Product per capita in Iran was last recorded at 5667.53 US dollars in 2023. The GDP per Capita in Iran is equivalent to 45 percent of the world's average. This dataset provides - Iran GDP per capita - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Iran was worth 404.63 billion US dollars in 2023, according to official data from the World Bank. The GDP value of Iran represents 0.38 percent of the world economy. This dataset provides - Iran GDP - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The national debt in Iran was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 4.4 trillion U.S. dollars (+271.53 percent). After the tenth consecutive increasing year, the national debt is estimated to reach 6.1 trillion U.S. dollars and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the national debt was continuously increasing over the past years.According to the International Monetary Fund, the general government gross debt consists of all liabilities that require payment or payments of interest and/or principal by the debtor to the creditor at a date or dates in the future.Find more key insights for the national debt in countries like Bahrain, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

The World Values Survey (WVS) is an international research program devoted to the scientific and academic study of social, political, economic, religious and cultural values of people in the world. The project’s goal is to assess which impact values stability or change over time has on the social, political and economic development of countries and societies. The project grew out of the European Values Study and was started in 1981 by its Founder and first President (1981-2013) Professor Ronald Inglehart from the University of Michigan (USA) and his team, and since then has been operating in more than 120 world societies. The main research instrument of the project is a representative comparative social survey which is conducted globally every 5 years. Extensive geographical and thematic scope, free availability of survey data and project findings for broad public turned the WVS into one of the most authoritative and widely-used cross-national surveys in the social sciences. At the moment, WVS is the largest non-commercial cross-national empirical time-series investigation of human beliefs and values ever executed.

The project’s overall aim is to analyze people’s values, beliefs and norms in a comparative cross-national and over-time perspective. To reach this aim, project covers a broad scope of topics from the field of Sociology, Political Science, International Relations, Economics, Public Health, Demography, Anthropology, Social Psychology and etc. In addition, WVS is the only academic study which covers the whole scope of global variations, from very poor to very rich societies in all world’s main cultural zones.

The WVS combines two institutional components. From one side, WVS is a scientific program and social research infrastructure that explores people’s values and beliefs. At the same time, WVS comprises an international network of social scientists and researchers from 120 world countries and societies. All national teams and individual researchers involved into the implementation of the WVS constitute the community of Principal Investigators (PIs). All PIs are members of the WVS.

The WVS seeks to help scientists and policy makers understand changes in the beliefs, values and motivations of people throughout the world. Thousands of political scientists, sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists and economists have used these data to analyze such topics as economic development, democratization, religion, gender equality, social capital, and subjective well-being. The WVS findings have proved to be valuable for policy makers seeking to build civil society and stable political institutions in developing countries. The WVS data is also frequently used by governments around the world, scholars, students, journalists and international organizations such as the World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Headquarters in New York (USA). The WVS data has been used in thousands of scholarly publications and the findings have been reported in leading media such as Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Economist, the World Development Report, the World Happiness Report and the UN Human Development Report.

The World Values Survey Association is governed by the Executive Committee, the Scientific Advisory Committee, and the General Assembly, under the terms of the Constitution.

Strategic goals for the 7th wave included:

Expansion of territorial coverage from 60 countries in WVS-6 to 80 in WVS-7; Deepening collaboration within the international development community; Deepening collaboration within NGOs, academic institutions and research foundations; Updating the WVS-7 questionnaire with new topics & items covering new social phenomena and emerging processes of value change; Expanding the 7th wave WVS with data useful for monitoring the SDGs; Expanding capacity and resources for survey fieldwork in developing countries. The 7th wave continued monitoring cultural values, attitudes and beliefs towards gender, family, and religion; attitudes and experience of poverty; education, health, and security; social tolerance and trust; attitudes towards multilateral institutions; cultural differences and similarities between regions and societies. In addition, the WVS-7 questionnaire has been elaborated with the inclusion of such new topics as the issues of justice, moral principles, corruption, accountability and risk, migration, national security and global governance.

For more information on the history of the WVSA, visit https://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSContents.jsp ›Who we are › History of the WVSA.

Geographic coverage

Iran.

The WVS has just completed wave 7 data that comprises 64 surveys conducted in 2017-2022. With 64 countries and societies around the world and more than 80,000 respondents, this is the latest resource made available for the research community.

The WVS-7 survey was launched in January 2017 with Bolivia becoming the first country to conduct WVS-7. In the course of 2017 and 2018, WVS-7 has been conducted in the USA, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Andorra, Greece, Serbia, Romania, Turkey, Russia, Germany, Thailand, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Nigeria, Iraq and over dozen of other world countries. Geographic coverage has also been expanded to several new countries included into the WVS for the first time, such as Bolivia, Greece, Macao SAR, Maldives, Myanmar, Nicaragua, and Tajikistan.

Analysis unit

Household, Individual

Sampling procedure

The sample type preferable for using in the World Values Survey is a full probability sample of the population aged 18 years and older. A detailed description of the sampling methodology is provided in the country specific sample design documentation available for download from WVS.

A detailed description of the sampling methodology is provided in the Iran 2020 sample design documentation available for download from WVS and also from the Downloads section of the metadata.

Mode of data collection

Paper Assisted Personal Interview [papi]

Research instrument

The survey was fielded in the following language(s): Persian. The questionnaire is available for download from the WVS website.

The gross domestic product (GDP) in current prices in Iran was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 165.7 billion U.S. dollars (+38.16 percent). After the sixth consecutive increasing year, the GDP is estimated to reach 599.9 billion U.S. dollars and therefore a new peak in 2029. The gross domestic product at current prices is defined based upon the GDP in national currency converted to U.S. dollars using market exchange rates (yearly average). The GDP represents the total value of final goods and services produced during a year.Find more key insights for the gross domestic product (GDP) in current prices in countries like Jordan, Qatar, and Iraq.

Iran’s gross domestic product (GDP) inclined by 3.33 percent in 2020 after adjusting for inflation. This figure fell from 13.4 percent growth four years ago, which had been a reaction to sanctions lifting after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JPCOA) regarding Iran’s nuclear program. United States president Donald Trump ended that country’s participation in the deal, imposing new sanctions.

Political influence on the economy

Political tensions have hampered the economy of Iran, keeping growth low in spite of the country’s considerable oil reserves. The effect of these sanctions becomes obvious when looking at Iran’s oil exports to Europe over the past decade. Some analysts have blamed the new sanctions for the increase in Iran’s inflation rate, as well as the currency depreciation that has accompanied it.

Iran’s options

Although Iran’s main export partners are largely in Asia, many of the transactions are carried out using U.S. dollars. Even though other means of payment are possible, some countries worry about political ramifications of continuing trade relations with Iran. Iran’s greatest strength at the moment may be its low national debt, meaning that it can borrow a substantial amount of money if it can find a willing lender. However, given the instability of the political situation worldwide and regionally, it is difficult to assume that such a borrower exists at the moment.

Opinions across Europe and the United States on various topics pertaining to foreign policy and international relations. The primary topics included: the state of relations between the European Union (EU) and the United States, the George W. Bush Administration´s handling of global affairs,) the functioning of the European Union (EU), the relevance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), general opinions on various countries, institutions, and population groups, perception of potential international threats, China as an emerging power, Iran and its pursuit of nuclear weapons, civil liberties and national security, the compatibility of Islam and democracy, and the role of the EU and the United States in establishing democracy.

Topics: Respondents were asked about relations between the United States and Europe including whether it was desirable for the EU to exert strong leadership in the world, whether they were in favor of the United States exerting strong leadership in the world, whether relations between the United States and Europe had improved or gotten worse, and how relations between the United States and Europe regarding security and diplomatic affairs should evolve in the future. Respondents also were asked whether they approved or disapproved of the way George W. Bush was handling international policies. There were several questions that related to the functioning of the EU, such as whether the EU should have its own foreign minister, whether military or economic power is more important when dealing with international problems, whether the EU should seek to strengthen its military power, what effect Turkey´s membership would have on the EU, and how further enlargement would change the EU´s role in world affairs and its ability to promote peace and democracy. Respondents were questioned about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and whether they believed NATO was still essential to their country´s national security. Respondents were asked to give their opinions on the following countries, institutions, and population groups using a scale of 0 (very cold, unfavorable feeling) to 100 (very warm, favorable feeling): the United States, Russia, Israel, the European Union, Palestinians, Italy, Turkey, China, Iran, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Spain. Respondents were also asked about potential threats facing Europe and the United States such as international terrorism, the inflow of immigrants and refugees, Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, the spread of diseases like avian flu, a major economic downturn, global warming, the growing economic and military power of China, instability in Iraq, and Islamic fundamentalism. Respondents were then asked if they perceived these threats to be important in the next ten years. With respect to Iran, respondents were asked whether action should be taken to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons, what would be the best and worst options for preventing Iran from obtaining them, whether military action should be taken if diplomacy could not prevent Iran from obtaining them, and which country or organization was best suited for handling the issue of Iranian nuclear weapons. The survey contained a series of questions relating to national security and civil liberties. Opinions were sought on whether respondents would support the government taking actions such as monitoring phone calls, Internet communication, and banking transactions made by citizens, all in the name of preventing terrorism. Questions were also asked about Islam and democracy including whether the values of the two institutions were compatible or not, and if there were problems, whether they existed in Islam as a whole or just in certain Islamic groups. In addition, respondents were asked if the EU and the United States should help establish democracy in other countries, whether this help should be dependent on whether or not the countries would be more likely to oppose the EU and/or the United States, and whether the EU and United States should monitor elections in new democracies, support independent groups and political dissidents, impose political and/or economic sanctions, or intervene militarily in order to establish democracy. Finally, respondents were asked about their voting intentions for the next elections and what factors they took into consideration when deciding for which party to vote.

demography: gender, age, level of education, occupation, household size, region, and ethnicity.

The gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in Iran was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 1,573.1 U.S. dollars (+31.38 percent). According to this forecast, in 2029, the GDP per capita will have increased for the sixth consecutive year to 6,585.94 U.S. dollars. This indicator describes the gross domestic product per capita at current prices. Thereby the gross domestic product was first converted from national currency to U.S. dollars at current exchange prices and then divided by the total population. The gross domestic products is a measure of a country's productivity. It refers to the total value of goods and service produced during a given time period (here a year).Find more key insights for the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in countries like Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.

The largest number of immigrants in Germany were from Ukraine, as of 2023. The top three origin countries were rounded up by Romania and Turkey. Immigrants are defined as having left a country, which may be their home country, to permanently reside in another. Upon arriving, immigrants do not hold the citizenship of the country they move to. Immigration in the EU All three aforementioned countries are members of the European Union, which means their citizens have freedom of movement between EU member states. In practice, this means that citizens of any EU member country may relocate between them to live and work there. Unrestricted by visas or residence permits, the search for university courses, jobs, retirement options, and places to live seems to be defined by an enormous amount of choice. However, even in this freedom of movement scheme, immigration may be hampered by bureaucratic hurdles or financial challenges. Prosperity with a question mark While Germany continues to be an attractive destination for foreigners both in and outside the European Union, as well as asylum applicants, it remains to be seen how current events might influence these patterns, whether the number of immigrants arriving from certain countries will shift. Europe’s largest economy is suffering. Climbing inflation levels in the last few months, as well as remaining difficulties from the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic are affecting global economic development. Ultimately, future immigrants may face the fact of moving from one struggling economy to another.