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Why is the registered population in Istanbul decreasing? The facts in 5 points!

Former Deputy Secretary General of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) Buğra Gökce explained the reasons for the decrease in Istanbul's registered population in 5 points.

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Former Deputy Secretary General of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) Buğra Gökce stated that the registered population in Istanbul has decreased based on 2023 data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK). According to Gökce, the registered population in Istanbul decreased by 252 thousand 27 people compared to the previous year. This decline points to the lowest population growth in the history of the Republic across Turkey.

Gökce explained the reasons for the decline with the following five points:

The economic and housing policies implemented by Turkey are causing a deep food and housing crisis. The rise in food and housing prices is making life in metropolises difficult.

Those living in the central districts of Istanbul are migrating to peripheral districts due to high prices. This migration results in a return from peripheral districts to Anatolian cities.

Housing sales to foreigners are increasing housing prices across Turkey and spreading the housing crisis. Along with high inflation, people are becoming unable to live in the places where they were born.

Wages and the incomes of employees and retirees are not increasing in proportion to inflation. This situation causes employees to become impoverished and their purchasing power to decline. An increase in the number of homeless people living on the streets is expected in metropolises such as Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir.

The earthquake disaster that occurred deeply affected the regional cities and forced many citizens to migrate to other cities. This wave of migration also affects inflation and increases housing and food costs.

Gökce listed what needs to be done as follows:

Stating that local government elections are of critical importance, he emphasized that those who do not produce solutions to major problems such as earthquakes, climate, housing, and the shelter crisis, or who do not prioritize these issues and will continue the rent-seeking system, have no chance of mitigating the crisis.

He stated that if merit-based and competent staff focused on the public do not come to city administrations, the rent-seeking system will continue and the housing and food crisis will grow.

He expressed that if housing sales to foreigners cannot be stopped with strong resistance in cities, the crisis will continue to grow.