Average household size, total fertility rate for Türkiye decreases

ANKARA

According to the data of the Address Based Population Registration System (ABPRS), the average household size in Türkiye is decreasing, falling from four people in 2008 to 3.17 people in 2022, the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) has announced.

In Türkiye, the province with the highest average household size was the southeastern province of Şırnak with 4.91 persons in 2022. The province with the lowest average household size was Tunceli and Çanakkale with 2.54 persons.

According to the results of ABPRS, it was seen that the proportion of one-person households, which consist of a person who lives alone, increased to 19.4 percent in 2022 from 13.9 in 2014.

Furthermore, the reports showed that the share of one-family households has decreased, which are defined as households consisting of a couple without children, a couple with at least one child, or a lone parent with at least one child. The share of one-family households fell from 67.4 percent in 2014 to 64.5 in 2022.

On the other side, the share of extended-family households, defined as households with at least one nuclear family member and non-family member(s), fell from 16.7 percent in 2014 to 12.8 in 2022.

Meanwhile, another report by TÜİK stated that the country’s total fertility rate has also seen a decrease in the recent decades, from 2.38 children in 2001 to 1.62 in 2022, meaning that the average number of live births that a woman would have under the assumption that she survived to the end of her reproductive life is falling.

The report showed that fertility remained below the population’s replacement level of 2.10.

In 2022 the province having the highest total fertility rate was Şanlıurfa with 3.59 children, followed by Şırnak and Mardin, respectively.

The provinces having the lowest total fertility rate was Kütahya and Zonguldak with 1.18 children, the report also said.

When the total fertility rates of 27 EU countries were analyzed in 2021, the country having the highest rate was France with 1.84 children and the country with the lowest rate was Malta with 1.13 children, the report added.

It was seen that Türkiye ranks sixth among the EU member countries with 1.71 children in 2021.