TÜİK announced: Fertility rate in Turkey at its lowest level in the last 23 years!

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) has announced birth data for 2024. According to the data, the total fertility rate in Turkey has declined to 1.48, falling below the critical replacement level. While Şanlıurfa was the province with the highest fertility rate at 3.28 children, Bartın and Eskişehir recorded the lowest rates at 1.12 children.

In 2017, the fertility rate was below 2.10 in 57 provinces, while this number rose to 71 in 2024. The number of provinces remaining below 1.50 was 4 in 2017, but reached 55 in 2024. Şanlıurfa stood out as the only province with a fertility rate of 3 children or more.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EDUCATION AND FERTILITY

An inverse relationship was observed between education level and fertility. While the fertility rate for illiterate mothers was 2.65, this rate dropped to 1.22 for mothers with a higher education degree. Furthermore, while the fertility rate in rural areas was determined to be 1.83 children, this rate fell to 1.39 in densely populated urban areas.

AGE AND BIRTH RATES

The fertility rate reached its highest level in the 25-29 age group at 100 per thousand. In the 15-19 age group, this rate fell to 10 per thousand. The average interval between births for mothers was recorded as 4.7 years.

The average age of first birth was determined to be 27.3 in 2024. While Tunceli was the province with the highest average age of first birth at 29.4, Şanlıurfa and Muş were the provinces with the lowest at 24.4.

DECLINE IN MULTIPLE BIRTHS

In 2024, the multiple birth rate was recorded at 3.3 percent. Of these births, 97 percent were twins, 2.9 percent were triplets, and 0.1 percent were quadruplets or more. 41.9 percent of births were first children, and 30.3 percent were second children.

Turkey's total fertility rate ranked 9th when compared to European Union countries. While the highest fertility rate in the EU was recorded in Bulgaria at 1.81 children, the lowest rate was determined in Malta at 1.06 children.