Turkey’s birth rate to fall: Projections

ANKARA

Turkey’s fertility rate will fall 2.02 in 2019 from last year’s 2.08, TÜİK says

Fertility in Turkey will likely lose momentum, according to the official statistics that indicate the birth rate in the country will fall to 2.02 in 2019 from 2.08 of last year.

The total fertility rate, which means the average number of children a woman can give birth to throughout the period she is fertile, has embarked on a downward trend since the early 2000s, as the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) figures show.

Below critical level

In 2006, the fertility rate in Turkey dropped below the critical level of 2.1 for the first time, which means the population cannot repopulate itself anymore.

Because the rate has been far from the impressive levels of previous years, it has become a source of concern for the government, which is known for its policies in encouraging population increases as part of its development program.

The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been urging Turkish families to procreate with at least three babies to raise fertility rates again.

Turkey’s population reached 75.6 million in 2012, and the growth rate had slowed down from 0.13 percent in 2011 to 0.12 percent last year, TÜİK previously announced.

Turkey has 1.2 million newborns annually, the study also showed. 

The rate of neo-natal death had decreased from 13.8 per 1,000 births, to 11.6 percent in 2012