Iran — Country Profile
Population, GDP, natural resources, leaders and history of Iran: the Magna Factbook country file, with its Magna Power score (--/100, ranked #-- of 195).
Last updated: October 2026
Iran is in Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea, between Iraq and Pakistan. It covers 1,648,195 sq km. Notable earlier dates: ca. 550 B.C. (Achaemenid or Persian Empire established); A.D. 1501 (Iran reunified under the Safavid dynasty); 1794 (beginning of Qajar dynasty); 12 December 1925 (modern Iran established under the PAHLAVI dynasty). Terrain: rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts, mountains; small, discontinuous plains along both coasts. Climate: mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast. P…
| Capital | Tehran |
|---|---|
| Population | 89,177,357 (2025 est.) |
| GDP (PPP) | $1.486 trillion (2024 est.) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | $16,200 (2024 est.) |
| Real GDP growth | 3% (2024 est.) |
| Inflation | 32.5% (2024 est.) |
| Unemployment | 9.2% (2024 est.) |
| Public debt | 39.5% of GDP (2017 est.) |
| Exports | $100.031 billion (2024 est.) |
| Imports | $117.176 billion (2024 est.) |
| Life expectancy | 75.6 years (2024 est.) |
| Median age | 35.2 years (2025 est.) |
| Urbanization | 77.3% of total population (2023) |
| Government | theocratic republic |
| Independence | 1 April 1979 (Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed); notable earlier dates: ca. 550 B.C. (Achaemenid or Persian Empire established); A.D. 1501 (Iran reunified under the Safavid dynasty); 1794 (beginning of Qajar dynasty); 12 December 1925 (modern Iran established under the PAHLAVI dynasty) |
| Languages | Persian Farsi (official), Azeri and other Turkic dialects, Kurdish, Gilaki and Mazandarani, Luri, Balochi, Arabic |
Iran’s GDP is $1.486 trillion (2024 est.) in purchasing-power-parity terms. At official exchange rates it stands at $436.906 billion (2024 est.). Real GDP grew 3% (2024 est.). See where Iran ranks among all 195 countries by GDP.
POWER --/100 — The Magna Power score is our 0–100 composite of structural national power — nine components, 135 indicators. It is the Bureau's own assessment, not a mirror of World Bank or CIA figures.
Momentum -2 — Quarterly momentum: the Bureau's read on the country's trajectory over the last quarter, from −10 (deteriorating fast) to +10 (accelerating).
The aftershocks of the 2026 war kept dragging: oil output down, inflation punishing, the state functioning but strained.
No new escalation, but no recovery either — a quarter of endurance, scored modestly negative.
- What our model rewards: public debt under 40% of GDP — room to maneuver; sits astride Strait of Hormuz — leverage over the world's trade routes
- What drags it down: only 8% of electricity from low-carbon sources; inflation running at 32.5% — eating paychecks
Oil, Natural gas, Coal, Chromium, Copper, Iron ore, Lead, Manganese, Zinc, Sulfur.
Energy is the physical base of economic power — what a country can generate, move and burn decides what it can build, sell and defend.
| Electricity access | 100% (2022 est.) |
|---|---|
| Installed capacity mix (CIA) | fossil fuels: 94.6% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); nuclear: 1.6% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); solar: 0.2% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); wind: 0.2% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); hydroelectricity: 3.4% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) |
| Energy consumption per capita (CIA) | 160.779 million Btu/person (2023 est.) |
| Primary energy consumption (OWID) | 3,589.8 TWh (2024) |
| Electricity generation (OWID) | 387.8 TWh (2024) |
| Energy per capita (OWID) | 39,204 kWh per person (2024) |
| Electricity generation mix (OWID) | Gas 80.2%, Oil 11.7%, Hydro 5.6%, Nuclear 1.7%, Wind 0.3%, Coal 0.2%, Solar 0.2% (2024) |
| Low-carbon share of electricity (OWID) | 7.9% (2024) |
| Carbon intensity of electricity (OWID) | 641.9 gCO2/kWh (2024) |
Sources: CIA World Factbook, Energy section; Our World in Data (IEA/Ember), 2024.
Trade shows what the world buys from a country and what the country must buy from the world — the balance between the two is a direct measure of economic leverage.
| Exports | $100.031 billion (2024 est.) |
|---|---|
| Imports | $117.176 billion (2024 est.) |
| Trade balance (calculated) | Deficit of $17.1 billion (2024), calculated from the CIA export and import figures above. |
| Key industries | petroleum, petrochemicals, gas, fertilizer, caustic soda, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food processing (particularly sugar refining and vegetable oil production), ferrous and nonferrous metal fabrication, armaments |
Source: CIA World Factbook, Economy section.
Masoud Pezeshkian — President. Supreme Leader Ali Hoseini-KHAMENEI (since 4 June 1989)
Iran maintains 98 embassies and 32 consulates abroad, hosts 92 foreign diplomatic missions, holds permanent missions to UN New York, UN Geneva, UN Vienna. The breadth of a diplomatic network is a direct measure of diplomatic power — it shows how far a country’s influence, alliances and interests reach.
| Embassies abroad | 98 |
|---|---|
| Consulates abroad | 32 |
| Foreign missions hosted | 92 |
| Multilateral missions | UN New York, UN Geneva, UN Vienna |
Source: Outbound: Consular Affairs Center (Yonsei Univ.), diplomatic & consular networks database, March 2026 report (Zenodo). Hosted: Wikipedia 'List of diplomatic missions in Iran' (older snapshot: 92 embassies in Tehran). Multilateral: Wikipedia 'List of diplomatic missions of Iran' (crawled 2026-10-02).
Transport networks are economic power made physical — ports, runways, railways and pipelines decide what a country can move, sell and defend.
| Sea access | Coastal — 2440 km of coastline. |
|---|---|
| Airports (total) | 177 + 90 heliports (registration prefix EP) |
| Major seaports | Abadan, Bandar Abbas, Bushehr, Khorramshahr |
| Railways | 8483.5 km |
Major airports
Abadan Ayatollah Jami International Airport (ABD) — Abadan; Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani International Airport (KER) — Kerman; Bandar Abbas International Airport (BND) — Bandar Abbas; Birjand International Airport (XBJ) — Birjand; Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA) — Tehran; Isfahan Shahid Beheshti International Airport (IFN) — Isfahan; Kish International Airport (KIH) — Kish Island; Mashhad International Airport (MHD) — Mashhad; Mehrabad International Airport (THR) — Tehran; Payam International Airport (PYK) — Karaj.
Showing 10 of 15 major airports.
Sources: OurAirports public-domain extract (2026-10-02); per-entry Wikipedia links included; CIA World Factbook via cia_factbook snapshot (2026-09-28)
| Political system | theocratic republic |
|---|---|
| Next election | No election currently scheduled. |
POWER --/100 Ranked #-- of 195 countries in the Magna Country Rankings. Full ranking breakdown for Iran.
This profile covers the population, economy, natural resources, leaders, and history of Iran — with the Bureau’s live national-power score of --/100, ranking #-- of 195 countries.
What is Iran's power score?
Iran has a Magna Power score of --/100. The score measures structural power — the proven capacity to shape events — across nine components.