Turkey’s fertility rate dropped to a record low of 1.48 children per woman in 2024, continuing a years-long decline and raising fresh concerns over the country’s demographic future, according to new data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).
The figure remains far below the population replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. In 2001 Turkey’s fertility rate stood at 2.38 and has not posted an increase since then. The replacement level has not been met since 2016.
The crude birth rate, the number of live births per 1,000 people, also dropped significantly, from 20.3 in 2001 to 10.9 in 2024, TurkStat said.
The number of live births fell from 1.32 million in 2001 to 937,559 last year. Of those births, 51.4 percent were boys and 48.6 percent were girls.
Southeastern provinces recorded the highest fertility rates, led by Şanlıurfa (3.28), Şırnak (2.72) and Mardin (2.39). The lowest rates were in the northwestern province of Bartın and the central province Eskişehir (1.12), followed by Zonguldak and Ankara (1.15) and the western city of İzmir (1.17).
Women in Turkey give birth most frequently between the ages of 25 and 29. The average age of mothers at childbirth was 29.3 in 2024.
Compared to European Union countries in 2023, Turkey ranked ninth in fertility, behind Bulgaria, which topped the list at 1.81 children per woman. Malta recorded the lowest fertility rate at 1.06.
The decline comes despite repeated calls by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urging families to have at least three children to help grow the population, a stance that has drawn criticism from feminist and women’s rights groups. Erdoğan has also discouraged the use of birth control and family planning and voiced opposition to Caesarean-section deliveries.
In April, Turkey’s Health Ministry banned elective C-sections at private hospitals, triggering a backlash from opposition lawmakers and rights organizations.
Turkey has the highest C-section rate among the 38 member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), with 584 per 1,000 live births in 2021, according to World Population Review data.