Turkey ranks third in Europe in number of police officers per capita

Turkey has the highest number of police officers in Europe and ranks third after Montenegro and Serbia in the number of police officers per capita, according to the latest Eurostat data on 2021 figures.

Tuesday July 11 2023 09:14 pm

Duvar English

Turkey ranks third after Montenegro and Serbia in terms of the number of police officers per capita in Europe and first with the total number of police officers, according to the European Statistical Office (Eurostat) reported by online news outlet Euronews.

The number of police officers per 100,000 people in Turkey is 568, compared to 335 on the European Union (EU) average. The number of police officers per capita in Turkey increased by 21 percent in the five years between 2016 and 2021.

Eurostat data shows that 475,000 police officers were on duty in Turkey in 2021. Turkey ranks first in Europe in terms of the total number of police officers and is followed by Germany (255,000), Italy (238,000), and France (217,000).

The total number of police officers was 368,000 in 2009 and 364,000 in 2016. Hence the total has increased by 31 percent in the five years covering the 2016-2021 period.

On the other hand, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) and the Interior Ministry present different numbers than Eurostat data due to most likely differences in definitions. There are also differences between Turkish authorities.

According to the TÜİK, the number of police officers in Turkey was 287,000 in 2021 and 290,000 in 2022. According to the Interior Ministry, the Turkish Police Organization had 329,000 personnel at the end of 2020.