The age structure of the population is measured by variables such as the working-age population share, the dependency ratio of children, and the elderly. Changes in these variables affect a country’s economic development trajectory and its opportunities and challenges. Given Iran’s substantial young population, this study examines the impact of population age structure on the country’s economic growth over the period 1986-2021. To this end, an econometric model was estimated using Eviews 13, where Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is considered the dependent variable and an indicator of economic growth. The model's independent variables include physical capital stock (PHC), years of schooling of the labor force (EDU), military expenditures (DEF), trade-to-GDP ratio (TRD), the growth rate of the active population aged 15 to 65 (POW), child dependency ratio (CHILD), and elderly dependency ratio (OLD). The results of this study indicate that years of schooling of the labor force (with a coefficient of 0.23), trade-to-GDP ratio (with a coefficient of 0.28), military expenditures (with a coefficient of 0.34), and physical capital stock (with a coefficient of 0.48) have a positive and significant impact on Iran's economic growth. Furthermore, the active population (with a coefficient of 1.3) shows a positive and significant relationship with economic growth. In contrast, the elderly dependency ratio (with a coefficient of 0.42) and child dependency ratio (with a coefficient of 0.23) have a negative but insignificant effect on economic growth.
