Türkiye ranks 18th worldwide with population of 85.3M

By Emir Yildirim

ISTANBUL (AA) – With a population of 85.3 million people, Türkiye ranked 18th among 194 countries by population size in 2023, the country’s statistical bureau revealed on Tuesday.

Türkiye’s population accounted for 1.1% of the global population, according to data TurkStat released ahead of July 11, the World Population Day, citing UN population estimates.

India was the world’s most populous country with 1.43 billion people, followed by China with slightly less at 1.42 billion, and the US with 339.5 million.

The top three most populous countries accounted for 39.7% of the global population in 2023, the data showed.

The highest population of children was seen in Niger and the Central African Republic at 55.5%, while Türkiye’s child population proportion was at 26%, below the global child population proportion of 29.8%.

As for the youth population, Syria had the highest number of youth aged 15 to 24, accounting for 24.1% of its population, meanwhile Türkiye’s youth population proportion was at 15.1%, below the world average of 15.5%.

The report, citing UN data, showed that Monaco had the highest elderly population, making up 35.8% of its population.

Türkiye, on the other hand, had an elderly population proportion of 10.2%, just above the global average of 10%.

As for fertility, the highest fertility rate was seen in Niger with 6.67 children in 2023.

The data showed that while the fertility rate worldwide was 2.31 in 2023, Türkiye’s fertility rate remained below the world total at 1.51.

The total fertility rate constitutes the average number of children conceived.

Moreover, Monaco had the highest life expectancy at birth for females at 89 years, and males at 85.2 years.

While the average global life expectancy was 76 years for females and 70.8 years for males, Türkiye had a higher average with 80.3 years for females and 74.8 years for males, according to the UN estimates cited in the report.

In 1989, the UN Development Program (UNDP) recommended that July 11 be observed worldwide as World Population Day to find solutions to overpopulation issues.