Turkey population tops 83 million, with Istanbul 27 times more dense than average

Duvar English

Turkey's population has risen by about 1.5 million in 2019, reaching 83,154,997 citizens, Turkish Statistical Institute's 2019 residence-based census revealed.

The population increase rate took a dip, decreasing to 1.39 percent from 1.47 percent.

A distribution among males and females showed an almost even split with 50.2 male and 49.8 female.

Distribution of the population

There was a 0.5 percent increase in the rate of citizens who live in cities or in central provinces, reaching 92.8 percent.

Istanbul, Turkey's largest metropolis, saw a population hike of about half a million and reached 15,519,267 residents. The metropolis hosts about 18.7 percent of the national population.

The southeastern province of Dersim was the least populated city in Turkey with only 84,660 residents.

Istanbul population density 27 times national average

The average number of people per square kilometer is 108 nationally, whereas the same figure in Istanbul is 2,987 people per square kilometer.

These numbers show that Istanbul's population density is 27 times the national average.

The second most dense city was the Thracian province of Kırklareli, where there are 541 people per square kilometer.

The least dense city was also the least populated province of Dersim, where there are 11 people per square kilometer.

Age distributions in the population

The median age of the country rose to 32.4 from 32 in 2018. The median age for men was 31.4, while the median age for women was 33.1.

The Black Sea province of Sinop has the highest median age at 40.8, while the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa has the youngest median age at merely 20.1.

Defined as ages 15 to 64, the working-age population has grown to 67.8 percent from 66.5 in 2007.

Calculated as the ratio of non-working individuals to working-age individuals, the dependency ratio saw a slight uptick, reaching 47.5 percent.