Use it or Lose it: Iran's Demographic Window of Opportunity

Farzaneh Roudi is a senior demographer and policy analyst with more than 30 years of experience researching and writing on the Middle East population and development issues. She co-authored a Stanford Iran 2040 working paper titled “Iran’s Population Dynamics and Demographic Window of Opportunity” with Dr. Pooya Azadi and Dr. Mohsen Mesgaran. She will present on her findings from this paper. 
Iran’s record fertility decline has had a significant impact on its age composition. The ratio of children (younger than 15) and elderly (65 and older) to the working age population (ages 15 to 65), known as the age dependency ratio, decreased from 0.95 in 1990 to 0.45 in 2005. With fewer dependents to support, Iran is currently in the midst of a demographic window of opportunity and has the potential for rapid economic growth if its large and educated labor force is competing in a global market and employed in well-paid, highly skilled jobs. Ms. Roudi will present the latest data on Iran’s population dynamics, discussing Iran's one time chance of benefiting from its demographic dividend.