Turkish immigration sees decline in 2022: TÜİK report

ISTANBUL

The number of people who immigrated to Türkiye from foreign countries experienced a decline of 33.2 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year, totaling 494,052 individuals, as reported by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

Looking closely at the demographics of people immigrating to Türkiye, the data showed that 52.9 percent of the migrant population were men, while 47.1 percent were women. Among those coming from abroad, 94,409 were Turkish citizens, and 399,643 were foreign nationals.

On the other hand, the number of people migrating abroad from Türkiye saw a remarkable increase of 62.3 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year, reaching a total of 466,914.

The statistics also revealed that 55.7 percent of them were men, and 44.3 percent were women. Of these migrants, 139,531 were Turkish citizens, and 327,383 were foreign nationals.

Analyzing the age groups of individuals who migrated to Türkiye in 2022, the report highlighted that the highest number of immigrants fell within the 25-29 age group, accounting for 12.2 percent of the total. This was closely followed by the 20-24 age group at 11.7 percent, and the 30-34 age group at 11.3 percent.

Conversely, among the population emigrating from Türkiye, the majority, 15.8 percent, belonged to the 25-29 age group, followed by the 30-34 age group at 13.4 percent, and the 20-24 age group at 12.8 percent.

When examining the distribution of immigrants to Türkiye in 2022 by provinces, Istanbul emerged as the province with the highest number of immigrants at 35.4 percent. Antalya came in second at 14.8 percent, followed by Ankara with 5.4 percent, Bursa with 3.9 percent, and Mersin with 3.8 percent.

Meanwhile, in terms of the population emigrating from Türkiye by provinces, Istanbul led the count at 39.5 percent, with Ankara at 9.8 percent, Antalya at 6.7 percent, Samsun at 3.4 percent and İzmir at 3 percent.

Among the foreign nationals who chose Türkiye as their destination in 2022, citizens of the Russian Federation ranked first, comprising 25 percent of the total. Ukraine followed at 8.1 percent, Iran at 6.5 percent, Afghanistan at 5.4 percent and Iraq at 4.8 percent.

On the other hand, Iraqi citizens constituted the largest group among foreign nationals who decided to migrate from Türkiye at 20 percent. They were followed by citizens of Iran at 10.6 percent, Uzbekistan at 7 percent, Afghanistan at 6 percent and Turkmenistan at 4.8 percent.