8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Asia / Southern Asia

Born in Iran

About 1 in 113 people born in 2023 started life in Iran. A boy can expect to live 76 years and a girl 80, up from 39 and 37 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 113
odds of being born here
1.2 million births · Ranked 25th of 230
76 / 80
years of life, boys / girls
Was 39 / 37 in 1950
$4,666
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 128th of 203 · extrapolated
77%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 40 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 335 in every 1,000 births to 12.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0100200300400195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth75.8 years for boys, 79.6 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 511.6 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year423,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people1.8World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles99%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year11 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year3 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 7.0 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.7, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.70UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.8 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 43 and the poorest fifth 7.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2023
7%Poorest fifth
12%Second
16%Middle
22%Fourth
43%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $4,666 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth43% / 7% (2023)World Bank PIP
Unemployment8.1% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises44.6% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person4.1% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming14% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed43% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment85% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Tehran, with 7.2 million people.

77%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
98%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Tehran7.2 million
Mashhad2.3 million
Isfahan1.5 million
Karaj1.4 million
Tabriz1.4 million
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Persian75%
Azerbaijani24%
Mazanderani5%
Gilaki5%
Southern Kurdish5%
Persian is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Tehran11.3 million
Isfahan4.0 million
Razavi Khorasan3.8 million
Khuzestan3.2 million
Fars2.8 million
East Azerbaijan2.5 million
Alborz Province2.2 million
West Azerbaijan2.0 million
Māzandarān1.5 million
Kerman1.5 million

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 31 regions
  • Tehran11.3 million
  • Isfahan4.0 million
  • Razavi Khorasan3.8 million
  • Khuzestan3.2 million
  • Fars2.8 million
  • East Azerbaijan2.5 million
  • Alborz Province2.2 million
  • West Azerbaijan2.0 million
  • Māzandarān1.5 million
  • Kerman1.5 million
  • Gilan Province1.3 million
  • Sistan and Baluchestan1.1 million
  • Lorestan Province1.1 million
  • Kermanshah Province1.1 million
  • Markazi1.0 million
  • Qom Province1.0 million
  • Kurdistan Province990,357
  • Hamadan Province928,762
  • Qazvin Province797,322
  • Golestan790,020
  • Yazd Province783,407
  • Hormozgan674,135
  • Ardabil Province667,849
  • Bushehr652,261
  • Zanjan512,809
  • Semnan476,683
  • North Khorasan379,005
  • Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari310,999
  • South Khorasan Province301,892
  • Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad285,625
  • Ilam Province267,148

People on the move

About 1.9% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are United States, Germany, Canada.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
United States431,405
Germany283,454
Canada205,304
Residents born abroad4.2% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 1.9% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostUnited States (431,405), Germany (283,454), Canada (205,304)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $1.0 billion a year (2004)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

87% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 5%.

87%
of older people receive a pension (2019)
5%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2023)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 2024146,837Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 1950119; the deadliest, in 1990, killed about 40,000 people (magnitude 7.3)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence2,701 between 1990 and 2024UCDP

Now live it.

Born in Iran, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Iran

Elsewhere in Asia

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences