The country's young population declined marginally to 22.6 million, accounting for more than a quarter (25.6%) of the total population of 85.3 million as of the end of 2022, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

The figure stood at 22.7 million – 26.5% of the total – a year earlier, the data showed.

Some 51.3% of that population, which includes people aged 17 and under, were male and 48.7% female.

Türkiye's young population is projected to continue to fall, according to TurkStat, to 25.6% in 2030, 23.3% in 2040, 20.4% in 2060 and 19.0% in 2080.

In 1970, the under-18s made up nearly half (48.5%) of the country's population, then fell to 41.8% in 1990 and 35.2% in 2000.

Still, the proportion of Türkiye's young population was higher than that of EU member states, which was 18.1% in 2022.

In the European Union, Ireland had the highest youth population with 23.6%, followed by France at 21.3% and Sweden at 21.0%.

The lowest rates were seen in Italy at 15.6%, Portugal at 15.8%, and Malta at 15.9%.

Turkiye's child dependency ratio – the number of children 14 and under per 100 persons aged 15 to 64 – was 32.3% at the end of last year.

In 2022, the primary school graduation rate was 98.4%, 96.4% for lower secondary education and 77.9% for upper secondary education.

The proportion of legal marriages for young women and men aged 16 and 17 within total legal marriages fell to 2% and 0.1%, respectively.

The labor force participation rate in the age group of 15-17 group was 18.7% in 2022 – 27.0% for males, and 10.0% for females.