Last fiscal year (ended March 20), 1.53 million births were registered in Iran, according to Deputy Head of Iran Statistics Center Alireza Zahedian.

He said policies to increase birth rate in recent years have been successful and have alleviated concerns over declining birth rate, IRIB news agency reported June 2.

However, the official raised concern that even with the current situation, birth rate will plunge to less than 0.5 percent in 25 years.

According to the World Bank, the total fertility rate in Iran decreased from 6.9 in 1960 to about 1.7 in 2014.

In 2013, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei first voiced concern over the declining population growth rate. He later issued a major set of policies to increase birth rate.

In March, Iranian MPs approved a proposed bill which grants new fathers a three-day leave.

News.Az