| Verified against primary record | |
| Medical tourism in Iran’s own WHO statement | Not mentioned; the statement lists seven priorities for resilient health systems and gives no figures[1] |
|---|---|
| National planning instrument cited | Seventh Development Plan, chapter 14, article 70, on securing and improving hospital resilience[1] |
| Independently reported | |
| Claimed medical tourists | About 1.1 million in Iranian year 1401, which ended 20 March 2023, stated by a Ministry of Health official[2] |
| A second official claim in the same report | About one million a year, stated separately by the head of the Health Ministry tourism office[2] |
| Authorised facilities | About 200 medical centres permitted to accept foreign patients[2] |
| Share of hospital patients | International patients described as approximately one per cent[2] |
| Stated origin of patients | Mainly neighbouring countries, including Iraq and Afghanistan; no country figures given[2] |
| Regional pattern | Visa restrictions were said to have pushed many Middle Eastern patients toward Southeast Asia[3] |
| Bands apply only to the rows beneath them. Every volume figure here is an official claim relayed by a state-linked outlet, not a published statistical series, and the figures attributed to two different officials in the same report do not agree. No revenue figure, no treatment-type breakdown and no country-level origin figure was given. No typical cost range is given because no official Iranian price schedule for foreign patients was located. | |
Medical tourism in Iran is claimed at volumes that would place it among the largest destinations in the world, but those claims rest entirely on statements by government officials relayed through state-linked media. No published Iranian statistical series was located, the figures given by two officials in the same report do not agree, and Iran’s own statement to the WHO Regional Committee does not mention the activity at all.
What is claimed
A report published by Tehran Times on 18 April 2023 and republished by Iranian diplomatic missions attributes to Soleyman Heidari, described as an official with the Ministry of Health, a figure of approximately 1.1 million medical tourists for the Iranian calendar year 1401, which ended on 20 March 2023. The same report attributes to Mohammadreza Tarjoman, head of the Health Ministry tourism office, a statement made the previous April that about one million medical tourists arrive annually. It records that a selection of 200 Iranian medical centres has permission to accept foreign patients, and that patients come mainly from neighbouring countries including Iraq and Afghanistan.[2]
The report further attributes to Heidari the statement that international patients make up approximately one per cent of hospital patients, with capacity expected to reach 20 per cent by March 2025, and a target of around two million medical travellers for the year from March 2025 to March 2026. It states that medical tourism earns the country more money than any other source but gives no amount.[2]
Why the claims cannot be treated as data
Three problems arise on the face of the source. The first is internal disagreement: 1.1 million and about one million are attributed to different officials in the same article without reconciliation, and the second figure is annual while the first is for a specific year.[2]
The second is the implausibility of the projection. Moving international patients from approximately one per cent of hospital patients to 20 per cent within roughly two years would require a twentyfold increase in foreign caseload, which no health system has achieved, and the statement is reported as an expectation rather than a plan with a mechanism.[2]
The third is the claim that medical tourism earns Iran more money than any other source, which is made with no figure attached and is difficult to reconcile with Iran being a major hydrocarbon exporter. A claim of that shape, offered without an amount, indicates promotional rather than statistical intent.[2]
None of this establishes that the underlying activity is small. Iran borders Iraq and Afghanistan, both of which have limited specialist capacity, and cross-border treatment on a substantial scale is entirely plausible. The point is narrower: the figures in circulation are not measurements, and the counting rules behind them, in particular whether resident foreign nationals and refugees are included, are not stated anywhere.
What Iran tells the World Health Organization
Iran’s own statement to the 71st session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean, circulated as EM/RC71/INF.DOC.5 under the title on building resilient health systems to advance universal health coverage and ensure health security, contains no figures of any kind. It lists seven general priorities for resilient health systems, including risk management, primary health care, human resources and digital health information systems, mentions increasing the financial support needed by health systems and a mechanism for fair distribution of health resources, and cites the Seventh Development Plan, chapter 14, article 70, on securing and improving the resilience of the country’s hospitals and health-treatment centres.[1]
Medical tourism, health tourism and foreign patients do not appear in it, and neither do out-of-pocket spending or the effect of sanctions on medicine supply.[1]
The contrast is worth stating plainly. In material aimed at domestic and foreign audiences, Iranian officials describe an industry of over a million patients a year that out-earns every other sector. In the formal document Iran submits to the regional health governing body, the activity does not exist.
Limits of the evidence
No Iranian Ministry of Health statistical publication on foreign patients was located, no register of the roughly 200 authorised centres was found, and no price schedule, revenue series or origin-country breakdown was obtainable. The volume claims come from a single state-linked report and are presented here with their attribution and their inconsistencies intact rather than averaged or tidied. The WHO Regional Committee statement carries no date in its text. Nothing has been estimated.
See also
- Medical tourism statistics, and the difference between a claim and a measurement
- Medical travellers and resident foreign patients, the distinction these figures do not draw
- Source markets in medical tourism, given the stated reliance on neighbouring countries
- Medical tourism revenue, claimed here without any amount
- Inbound medical tourism, the activity being described
References
- Islamic Republic of Iran. Statement of I.R. Iran on building resilient health systems to advance universal health coverage and ensure health security in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. EM/RC71/INF.DOC.5, 71st session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean. Verified against primary record: the document was opened and the title, document number, the absence of any statistics or years, the seven listed priorities for resilient health systems including risk management, primary health care, human resources and digital health information systems, the references to increasing financial support for health systems and to a mechanism for fair distribution of health resources, the citation of the Seventh Development Plan chapter 14 article 70 on securing and improving the resilience of hospitals and health-treatment centres, the proposal for greater WHO cooperation and regional experience exchange, and the absence of any reference to medical tourism, health tourism, foreign patients, out-of-pocket spending or sanctions were read directly. The document carries no date in its text. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
- Tehran Times. Iran attracts over one million medical tourists in year, official says. Published 18 April 2023, republished by the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Independently reported: the report was opened and the figure of approximately 1.1 million medical tourists for Iranian calendar year 1401 ending 20 March 2023 attributed to Soleyman Heidari of the Ministry of Health, the separate statement attributed to Mohammadreza Tarjoman, head of the Health Ministry tourism office, that about one million medical tourists arrive annually, the statement that a selection of 200 Iranian medical centres has permission to accept foreign patients, the statement that patients come mainly from neighbouring countries including Iraq and Afghanistan, the statement that international patients make up approximately one per cent of hospital patients with capacity expected to reach 20 per cent by March 2025, the target of around two million medical travellers for March 2025 to March 2026, and the claim that medical tourism earns the country more money than any other source with no amount given were read directly. Tehran Times is an Iranian state-linked outlet and these are official claims rather than independently verified data, which is why they are placed in this band. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
- Chambers, A. Trends in U.S. Health Travel Services Trade. Office of Industries, United States International Trade Commission, Executive Briefing on Trade, August 2015. Independently reported: the briefing was opened and the statement that visa restrictions had pushed many Middle Eastern patients towards Southeast Asia was read. The briefing states that the views expressed are the author’s and not those of the Commission, and it is placed in this band for that reason. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
Sourcing note: the volume claims in this entry are reproduced with their attributions and their contradictions intact, because tidying them would present promotional statements as statistics. State-linked media is identified as such. The entry says what is implausible about the projection and why, and separately says that the underlying activity may well be substantial, since the absence of a measurement is not evidence of absence. Nothing has been estimated and no commercial source has been used.