Demographic Determinants of Population Ageing and Related Indicators in Iran

World socio-economic developments lead to decline the population growth and to increase the life expectancy. When this process is along with fertility decline, it reshapes the age structure of the population and shifts the relative weight from younger to older age groups. Hence, population ageing is a by product of "demographic transition" in which mortality and then fertility decline from higher to lower level. Under the UN classification, persons 60 years old or above called aged. At the present in the world for each individual aged 60 and over, 10 individuals are living. Ageing index has increased from 24 in 1950 to 33 in 2000 and is expected to reach to 101 in 2050.The aged persons in Iran increased from 1.6 million in 1966 to 5.1 in 2006 with an average growth rate of 2.7 percent, which is 1.7 fold of population growth rate in the same period. Ageing index in Iran increased from 17 in 1996 to around 29 in 2006. Considering the other related indices of the aged peoples in Iran, while planning the development program, suitably we have to mainstreaming the needs of older persons and this should be done under the recommendations of the world international assemblies on ageing.