The latest statistics released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) Monday highlighted a gradual decline in the birth rate, total fertility rate, and family and household sizes in the country when compared to the data a year ago.

Combined with the last month's TurkStat report on the overall youth population, which dropped from 26.5% in 2021 to 25.6% of the total population of 85.3 million as of the end of 2022, the last figures regarding family sizes and the birth rate indicate the aging trend in the country persists.

According to the institute's data on the birth rates for 2022, it was determined the figure of births in the country stood at 1.035 million, while the total fertility rate was recorded at 1.62. This shows a significant decrease from the 2.38 fertility rate country had around two decades ago, in 2001.

The fertility rate refers to the average number of births that a woman would have in her reproductive life (usually between the ages of 15 and 49).

TurkStat revealed the fertility rate remained below the population’s replacement level of 2.10. Replacement level shows the fertility rate required to sustain the average size of the population in any country.

When analyzing the data across provinces, it is noteworthy that the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa with an average of 3.59 children per woman, stood out in terms of birth rates and had the highest fertility rate in Türkiye.

Similarly, two other provinces in the southeastern and southern regions, namely Şırnak and Mardin, also exhibited relatively high fertility rates.

This could be attributed to the prevalence of larger traditional families in these areas, which typically have more members. According to reports from TurkStat for 2022, the fertility rate was reported to be 2.94 in Şırnak and 2.62 in Mardin.

On the other hand, the lowest fertility rate was recorded in the western province of Kütahya and northern Zonguldak at 1.18. The same province stood at the bottom in the previous reading of TurkStat in 2021 when the fertility rate stood at 1.21.

Relatively lower rates when compared to the country's overall of 1.62 were recorded in the Karabük and Bartin provinces with 1.21 and 1.26 rates, as per data.

However, the broader picture depicts that although the population in Türkiye shows a tendency toward aging and it's projected that the young population is expected to fall to 25.6% in 2030 and 23.3% in 2040 – the fertility rate of 1.71 in Türkiye stands in sixth place when ranked against European Union member countries based on 2021 data.

In EU countries, France has the highest fertility rate with 1.84 children, while the country with the lowest total fertility rate was Malta with 1.13 children, according to the data for 2021.

Another figure shedding light on the birth dynamics is the crude birth rate or the number of live births per every 1,000 people. This figure decreased to 12.2 per 1,000 in 2022, from 20.3 in 2001. Similarly, in terms of birth rates, Şanlıurfa, Mardin and Şırnak topped the list of provinces with the highest crude birth rate, while Zonguldak, Çanakkale, Bartın and Zonguldak scored the lowest rate.

The highest fertility rate was in the age group between 25 and 29, while in comparison the most active reproduction group in 2001 was the 20-24 group. This showed that fertility occurred at a later age for women.

Experts in Türkiye attribute the gradual drops in the birth rate and shift in the family dynamics to urbanization, a rise in the number of women pursuing education, and their active participation in the workforce, which indirectly leads to the postponement of births.

Additionally, the data from TurkStat also pointed out that the adolescent fertility rate (between the ages of 15 and 19) decreased.

The latest data also offered insight into the median age of mothers when giving birth. While the average age of mothers who gave birth in 2001 was 26.7, it became 29.2 in 2022. The average age of mothers who gave birth for the first time in 2022 was stated as 26.8.

Istanbul had the highest mean age, at 28.4, while Ağrı had the lowest age at 23.8.

Family statistics

Based on the country's population registration system (ADNKS), TurkStat data on families highlighted the average household size decreased to 3.17 people last year, from four people in 2008.

The southeastern province of Şırnak had the highest average household size with 4.91 people, ahead of Şanlıurfa and Batman, while the smallest household size was in the provinces of Çanakkale and Tunceli with 2.54 people.

According to the data provided by TurkStat, there has been an increase in the number of one-person households in Türkiye. This trend suggests that more individuals are living alone.

The rate of people living alone rose to 19.4% from 13.9% recorded in 2014. Based on provinces' data, single-person household rates were highest in Gümüşhane, ahead of Tunceli and Giresun.

The family statistics also highlighted that the rates of small families, consisting only of spouses or spouses with a single child dropped from 67.4% in 2014 to 64.5%, while on the other side, the proportion of extended households decreased from 16.7% in 2014 to 12.8% in 2022.

In 2022, TurkStat reported that single-parent households with children accounted for 10.3% of the total households in Türkiye. Within this category, 2.3% of households comprised fathers and their children, while 8% of households comprised mothers and their children.