Turkey becomes 18th highest populated country in world with 85.37M people
Turkey became the 18th most populated country in the world with 85,372,377 people, according to the UN population estimates. The country has a lower child and youth population rate than the global average, whereas the elderly population stands slightly higher than the world average.
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According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK)'s "World Population Day 2024" bulletin, Turkey ranked 18th among 194 countries with a population of 85,372,377, accounting for 1.1 percent of the global population.
The bulletin, citing UN population estimates, reported that India had the largest population in 2023 with 1,428,627,663 people, followed by China with 1,425,671,352 people, and the United States with 339,996,563 people. These three countries made up 39.7 percent of the world's total population.
The United Nations Development Programme established "World Population Day" on July 11, 1987, when the global population reached five billion. Each year on this day, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) sets a theme to highlight and raise awareness of key population issues.
Child Population
In 2023, Niger and the Central African Republic had the highest percentage of child population aged 0-17, each at 55.5 percent. The global average for the child population was 29.8 percent.
Turkey's child population ratio was 26 percent, below the world average. Among the 27 European Union (EU) member countries, Ireland had the highest child population ratio at 23.3%, followed by Sweden at 21 percent and France at 20.7 percent. Turkey's child population ratio of 26 percent was higher than those of the EU countries.
Youth Population
In 2023, Syria had the highest percentage of youth aged 15-24 at 24.1 percent, followed by the Central African Republic and East Timor at 22.3 percent each, and Eritrea at 22.1 percent. The global average youth population ratio was 15.5 percent.
Turkey's youth population ratio was slightly below the global average at 15.1 percent, but higher than the EU countries. Among the 27 EU member countries, Ireland had the highest youth population ratio at 13.1 percent, followed by Denmark at 12% and the Netherlands at 11.9 percent.
Elderly Population
The global average ratio for the elderly population in 2023 was 10 percent. Turkey's elderly population ratio was slightly above this average at 10.2 percent. However, Turkey's elderly population ratio was lower than those of the 27 EU member countries.
Cyrus had the lowest elder population ratio in the EU with 15.2 percent, followed by Luxembourg with 15.4 and Ireland with 15.5 percent.