Demographics & population — Turkey
Population size, age structure, migration, ethnicity, language, education, and health indicators.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Demographics & population at a glance
Population size, age structure, migration, ethnicity, language, education, and health indicators. Key figure for Turkey: 84,119,531
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Population overview
- Population
84,119,531
- Population Growth Rate
0.61%
- Population Distribution
- the most densely populated area is found around the Bosporus in the northwest where 20% of the population lives in Istanbul
- with the exception of Ankara, urban centers remain small and scattered throughout the interior of Anatolia
- an overall pattern of peripheral development exists, particularly along the Aegean Sea coast in the west, and the Tigris and Euphrates River systems in the southeast
- Urban Population
- urban population: 77.5%
- of total population rate of urbanization: 1.11% annual rate of change
- Population in Major Urban Areas
15.848 million Istanbul, 5.397 million ANKARA (capital), 3.088 million Izmir, 2.086 million Bursa, 1.836 million Adana, 1.805 million Gaziantep
- Population: Male/Female
84,119,531
Age & family
- Age Structure
- years: 21.7% (male 9,358,711/female 8,933,673) 15-64
- years: 68.6% (male 29,219,389/female 28,494,315) 65
- years and over: 9.6% (male 3,669,330/female 4,444,113)
- Median Age
- total: 34
- years male: 33.4
- years female: 34.6 years
- Birth Rate - births/1,000 population
14
- Death Rate - deaths/1,000 population
6.1
- Total Fertility Rate - children born/woman
1.9
- Gross reproduction rate
1
- Child Marriage
- women married by age 15: 2%
- women married by age 18: 14.7%
- Contraceptive Prevalance Rate - female 12-49
69.8%
- Contraceptive Prevalence Rate - female 12-49
69.8%
- Currently married women (ages 15-49)
65.4%
- Mean Age for Mother's First Birth (age 25-49)
26.6
- Mother's mean age at first birth
26.6
- Sex Ratio at Birth - male/female
- at birth: 1.05
- male(s)/female 0-14 years: 1.05
- male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03
- male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.83
- male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female
Migration
- Net Migration Rate - migrant(s)/1,000 population
-1.5
Ethnicity & language
- Ethnic Groups
Turkish 70-75%, Kurdish 19%, other minorities 6-11%
- Language Note
Turkish (official), Kurdish, other minority languages
- Nationality Noun
- Turk(s) adjective: Turkish
Education
- Literacy - total population
96.7%
- Literacy - male
99.1%
- Literacy - female
94.4%
- Literacy Definition
age 15 and over can read and write
- Education Expenditures - percent of GDP
3.4%
- Total School Life Expectancy - (primary to tertiary)
- total: 18
- years male: 19
- years female: 18 years
Health & living conditions
- Life Expectancy at Birth
- total population: 76.7
- years male: 74.4
- years female: 79.2 years
- Infant Mortality Rate
- total: 18.4 deaths/1,000
- live births male: 19.9 deaths/1,000
- live births female: 16.7 deaths/1,000 live births
- Infant Mortality Rate - total deaths/1,000 live births
- total: 18.4 deaths/1,000
- live births male: 19.9 deaths/1,000
- live births female: 16.7 deaths/1,000 live births
- Maternal Mortality Rate - deaths/100,000 live births
17
- Physicians Density - physicians/1,000 population
1.93
- Hospital Bed Density - beds/1,000 population
2.9
- Health Expenditures - percent of GDP
4.6%
- Obesity - adult prevalence rate
32.1%
- Tobacco Use
- total: 30.7%
- male: 42.1%
- female: 19.2%
- Alcohol consumption per capita
- total: 1.18
- liters of pure alcohol beer: 0.67
- liters of pure alcohol wine: 0.16
- liters of pure alcohol spirits: 0.35
- liters of pure alcohol other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol
- Drinking Water Source - percent of urban population improved
- urban: 99.1%
- of population rural: 98.7%
- of population total: 99%
- urban: 0.9%
- of population rural: 1.3%
- of population total: 1% of population
- Sanitation Facility Access - percent of urban population improved
- urban: 99.8%
- of population rural: 98.7%
- of population total: 99.6%
- urban: 0.2%
- of population rural: 1.3%
- of population total: 0.4% of population
- Underweight - percent of children under five years
1.5%