Over the course of 2019, young people made up 15.6% of Turkey’s total population, the country's statistical authority announced on Friday, showing a slight decrease of 0.2 percentage points compared with the last year.
The country had 12.95 million people aged 15-24, in a total population of 83.15 million last year, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said.
The institute noted the youth population would drop in the coming decades, down to 14.8% in 2023, 14% in 2030, 13.4% in 2040, 11.8% in 2060 and 11.1% in 2080, according to the current trajectory. This ratio was 19.4% in 2000 and 17% in 2010 and is expected to drop to 14.8% next year, according to the data.
The institute made a similar projection for the country’s infant population last month that put the future of Turkey’s image as a young country in question. Last month, in a report about the country’s child population TurkStat said Turkey’s child population was likely to fall to 27% at the centenary of the republic, and by the end of this century, it will fall further to 19%.
Regarding the gender of the country's youth population, the ratio of young men to young women was 51.3% to 48.7% in 2019, data showed.
When it came to working youth, the number showed that the unemployment rate among youth was 25.4% last year – 22.5% in men and 30.6% in women. Last year, the youth employment rate was 33.1%. This ratio was 43.4% for young males and 22.6% for young females in 2019.
TurkStat noted: "17.7% of young people were employed in the agriculture sector, 28.2% in the industry sector and 54.1% of them were employed in the service sector in 2019."
The statistics also delved into happiness among the young population. More than half of young people in the country (56.7%) said they were happy last year, up from 55.4% in 2018.
The institute added that "health was the first value as a source of happiness for young people with 52.3% in 2019. This was followed by success with 24.2% and love with 15.1%."
While 73% of young people were satisfied with their job, 62% of them said they were satisfied with the education they received.
