editorial: resistance economy and new population policy in iran

In recent years, population policies have been the focus of special attention among politicians and policymakers. iran's population has been growing constantly during the past half century; so that the population has relatively doubled from 1975 to 1995 and has jumped over the last two decades. however, the fertility rate has decreased dramatically from 6.24 in 1975 to 3.95 in 1995 and 1.72 in 2016 (figure 1). accordingly, the fertility rate in iran has fallen to less than 2.0 during the last decade. the fertility rate below replacement level is a serious demographic problem. to overcome this problem, the general policies of the population were issued in may 2013, including 14 clauses. according to the first clause, the fertility rate must increase above the replacement level. however, it is not determined how much the fertility rate should be. lack of attention to this critical issue may again result in uncontrollable and unpredictable population growth.