Turkey’s kid population to drop significantly, data show

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Some children in western province of Bursa prepare for celebrating National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, which occurrs on April 23 each year, around the country with ceremonies. AA photo

The proportion of children in respect to the total population will fall from 30 percent in 2012 to 19.1 percent in 2050, reaching the 2010 rate of European Union countries, according to data from a recent study by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) released yesterday.

The size of the child population is set to fall to 25.7 percent in 2023 and expected to fall further to 19.1 percent in 2050, dropping to 17.6 percent by 2075, according to projections made by TUİK data. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan often calls on people to have at least three children in order to boost economic growth.

More than half of Turkish families, 54.2 percent, have at least one child, the study also showed.

The TUİK’s research said that the rate of children as a percentage of total population among European Union countries was 19 percent in 2010, while this rate was 30.8 percent in Turkey in the same year.

Turkey’s population growth rate slows down

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. Children, those below 18, make up 22.6 million of the total population according to 2012 data.

In 2012, 27.3 percent of the child population was aged four or under, while those between the ages of five and nine made up 27.1 percent, data shows. Those between 10 and 14 years of age made up 28.6 percent of the population while those aged between 15 and 17 were 16.9 percent of the child population in 2012.

The research comes as Turkey celebrates National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, occurring on April 23 each year, around the country with ceremonies.

It is a national holiday across the country and schools will be closed tomorrow, April 24, to allow children to get rest after celebrating their holiday. The day also marks the establishment of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on April 23, 1920.

1.2 million newborns each year, study says

The TUİK study also said that the southeastern province of Şırnak had the highest child population rate at 49 percent, as a proportion of the province’s total population in 2012.

Turkey has 1.2 million newborns annually, the study also showed. The most common names given to newborns are Berat for boys, Zeynep for girls, it said. The rate of neo-natal death had decreased from 13.8 per 1,000 births, to 11.6 percent in 2012, the data also showed.