Elderly profile survey of Türkiye to be conducted: Minister

ANKARA

Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş announced the country's first-ever comprehensive elderly profile survey, aiming to safeguard the elderly population by identifying potential risks they might face.

Stating that the proportion of the nation’s population aged 65 and over is rapidly increasing and that this number is approaching 10 percent of the total population as of 2022, Göktaş said that this number is estimated to increase to over 15 percent by 2040, entailing new regulations for the ministry to make according to the changes in the population structure.

Noting that the relationship between the elderly and the general society has also changed over time, Göktaş said in order to provide the ministry’s services in the most comprehensive way, they aim to establish a system that provides up-to-date and versatile data flow.

“In this direction, we will conduct the Elderly Profile Survey of Türkiye for the first time,” the minister announced.

With the research they will conduct jointly with the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), they aim to predict the effects of aging on the transformation of the population structure and to formulate social policies for elderly individuals in the most efficient way, the minister remarked.

Stating that they will create a data pool including demographic and socio-economic indicators disaggregated on the basis of age and gender, Göktaş said that the results of the research are planned to be published in March 2024 and the data will be updated every four years.