By Tuba Sahin
ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's fertility rate reached 1.99 children in 2018, remaining below population's replacement level of 2.10, said the country's statistical authority on Friday.
Last year's total fertility rate, the average number of live births that a woman would have during her reproductive period, was down from 2.07 in 2017, according to TurkStat ahead of World Population Day on July 11.
TurkStat projected the current downward trend in fertility rates would continue in the future to become 1.85 by the year 2050.
"The world's fertility rate, which was 4.8 in 1969, decreased to 2.5 today," it added.
The figure was at 1.7 in developed countries and 3.9 in less developed countries, according the institute.