Child population in Turkey is decreasing, elderly population hits a record
According to data from TÜİK, Turkey's population has reached 86.3 million; while the share of children is decreasing, the elderly population rate has reached 11.1 percent.
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While Turkey's population continues to grow, a remarkable shift is occurring in the share of age groups within the total population. According to the 2026 second-quarter data from the Turkish Statistical Institute's (TÜİK) Address Based Population Registration System (ADNKS), the country's population reached 86 million 320 thousand 602 people as of July 1, 2026.
Turkey's population, which was recorded as 86 million 92 thousand 168 at the end of 2025, increased by 228 thousand 434 people in the first six months of the year. Of this increase, 123 thousand 904 occurred in the two-month period between May 1 and July 1.
The data shows that despite population growth, the trend of aging in Turkey's demographic structure is strengthening. In Turkey, which has stood out for many years with its high proportion of young people, the share of children in the total population has decreased while the rate of the elderly population has risen.
The share of the child population in the 0-14 age group, which was close to 30 percent in the early 2000s, has declined to 20.4 percent. The share of the elderly population in the total population was measured at 11.1 percent, reaching a historic peak.
The slowing growth rate of the child and youth population reveals that the transformation in Turkey's age structure will gain more importance in the coming years in terms of social policy, healthcare services, education planning, and working life.