Iran

A MULTIETHNIC STATE of over 70 million people, Iran is a Middle Eastern country under an Islamic system of government. Largely because of the complexities involving the Islamic Revolution, regime change, and the war with Iraq, economic growth was below two percent per year in the 1980s and recovered to around four percent in the 1990s, according to the International Labor Organization in 2001.

Despite Iran's massive supply of natural gas and oil, poverty and unemployment have been critical issues in recent years among a large segment of the population. Accurate estimates of employment levels have been difficult partly because of the state's inability or unwillingness to maintain labor data based on international standards. The 1991 census determined that over 25 percent of the population were economically active and 11 percent of the workforce were unemployed.

A recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) report estimates that Iran's overwhelmingly young demographic profile has led the workforce to grow by 3.5 percent, bringing 600,000 new job seekers to the labor market each year. Job creation, however, has lagged at some 450,000 new positions. Official data for 2001–02 put the unemployment rate at 16 percent, though the Economic Intelligence Unit put the actual figure closer to 20–25 percent. Another estimate, from Jane's Publications, puts the unemployment rate among 15-to 29-year-olds in 2004 at 31 percent. The percentage of the population living in poverty is estimated at 15 per-cent—with poverty defined as households making less than $89 a month in urban areas and $60 in rural areas.

A sign of inadequate economic opportunities is the continuing emigration of thousands of young and skilled Iranians, many to Europe and North America. Iranian Azeris, who constitute the largest ethnic minority, are in an economically better position as compared to the rest of Iran's population. Iranian Azerbaijan, formed of three northwestern provinces, has the largest concentration of industry outside of the capital city, Tehran. Because of its large population and a severe drought over the past several years, Iran became one of the world's biggest buyers of wheat during 1999–2001, importing an average of six million tons per year. Some of the effects of the drought, combined with the increasing price of oil, are likely to be long-lasting. Many small agricultural producers, for example, are thought to have abandoned their holdings and moved to towns seeking alternate employment. Furthermore poverty, combined with political repression and a highly restrictive and patriarchal culture, has led to social ills.

Among other things, organized crime has been on the rise, with drug trafficking, prostitution, and corruption being widespread. Despite the Islamic republic's ban on the growth, production, and distribution of drugs, a relatively large segment of the Iranian population (over two percent) is addicted to opium and heroine. The high rate of dissatisfaction and depression among the population—especially the youth—brought about by strict idiosyncratic Islamic social laws, in conjunction with lack of sufficient economic opportunities, is a likely reason behind the surge in drug addiction. Iran is also the world leader in drug seizures, with much of the interdiction taking place along the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

...