The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced Friday that the population of Turkey increased by 1.06 million in 2021 and the total population of the country now exceeds 84.6 million, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah.
According to Address Based Population Registration System results, the annual population growth rate increased to 12.7 per 1,000 in 2021, from 5.5 per 1,000 in the previous year. Men made up 50.1% of the population. Foreigners residing in Turkey also increased by 458,626 and reached more than 1.7 million.
The country’s most crowded city Istanbul dominated the list of most populated cities once again, with the addition of 378,448 people to its population, which reached more than 15.8 million, ahead of the capital Ankara where more than 5.7 million live. The city reported a drop in the population for the first time in two decades in 2020.
The statistics show that the longstanding trend of increasing urbanization kept its momentum in 2021, with the rate of people living in province and district centers reaching 93.2% while the rural population slightly dropped, though the isolated settlements in the countryside gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
After Istanbul, which constitutes 18.7% of the country's overall population and Ankara, Izmir kept the title of the third-largest province with 4.4 million inhabitants, ahead of Bursa, an industrial hub south of Istanbul. Antalya became the fourth most populated and only province in regions outside central and western Turkey with the highest population with more than 2.6 million people.
Not much changed for provinces with the least population. Tunceli in the east once again had the lowest number of residents at around 83,000 people, ahead of Bayburt, Ardahan, Kilis and Gümüşhane.
Though the population changes may appear slight, they highlight a danger awaiting the country in the future: an aging population. TurkStat's report on the issue was included with population pyramids on changes in the age-gender structure of the population.
The pyramids for 2021 – compared to 2007, the year with the latest available data – show that the elderly population and median age increased in the country, something TurkStat linked to a decline in fertility and mortality rates. Experts link the aging trend to several factors, particularly to better health care that prolongs life in the country, where longevity showed a rise in recent years.