A new report by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) sheds light on the current state of Türkiye's child population and its trajectory compared to the European Union (EU).

According to Address Based Population Registration System (ABPRS) results while Türkiye population was 85 million 372 thousand 377 people by the end of 2023, 22 million 206 thousand 34 of it constituted by the child population. 51.3% of child population was boys and 48.7% was girls. While the child population, which includes 0-17 age group according to the definition of United Nations, constituted 48.5% of the total population in 1970, this proportion was 41.8% in 1990 and 26.0% in 2023.

According to population projections the proportion of child population was expected to be 25.6% in 2030, 23.3% in 2040, 20.4% in 2060 and 19.0% in 2080.

Proportion of Türkiye child population was higher than that of the EU member countries

When the proportions of child population of 27 European Union (EU) member countries were analyzed, the EU average of the proportion of child population was 18.0% in 2023. Among the EU member countries, the countries with the highest proportion of child population were Ireland with 23.4%, France with 21.1%, Sweden with 20.9%, respectively. The countries with the lowest proportion of child population were Malta with 15.1%, Italy with 15.4%, Portugal with 15.9%, respectively. It was seen that the proportion of Türkiye child population with 26.0% was higher than that of the EU member countries.

The province with the highest proportion of child population was Şanlıurfa

According to ABPRS results when the proportion of child population in the total population was analyzed by provinces, the province with the highest proportion of child population was Şanlıurfa with 44.4% in 2023. Şanlıurfa was followed by Şırnak with 40.5% and Ağrı and Muş with 38.2%.

The province with the lowest proportion of child population was Tunceli with 16.5%. Tunceli was followed by Edirne with 17.5% and Kırklareli with 18.3%.

In Türkiye, the proportion of households with at least one child in the 0-17 age group was 43.6%

According to ABPRS results the total number of households in 2023 was 26 million 309 thousand 332. It was seen that the proportion of households with at least one child in the 0-17 age group was 43.6%. When the distribution of these households is examined by provinces, it was seen that the province with the highest proportion of households with at least one child in the 0-17 age group was Şanlıurfa with 69.0% and the province with the lowest proportion was Tunceli and Sinop with 29.1%.

It was seen that 18.9% of total households had one child in the 0-17 age group, 15.0% of them had two children, 6.3% of them had three children, 2.1% of them had four children, 1.2% of them had five and more children.

It was seen that 29.6% of the child population was in the 5-9 age group in 2023

When the child population was examined by age group, while 28.3% of the child population was in the 0-4 age group, 27.7% in the 5-9 age group, 27.7% in the 10-14 age group and 16.3% in the 15-17 age group in 2018, 24.1% was in the 0-4 age group, 29.6% was in the 5-9 age group, 28.8% was in the 10-14 age group and 17.5% in the 15-17 age group in 2023.

The number of babies born alive was 1 million 35 thousand 795 in 2022

According to birth statistics the number of babies born alive in 2022 was 1 million 35 thousand 795. 531 thousand 946 of them were boys, and 503 thousand 849 of them were girls. 96.8% of the babies born alive were single births, 3.1% were twins, and 0.1% were triplets or more.

According to the data of the Ministry of Health while the proportion of births in hospitals was 91.6% in 2010, it was 97.3% in 2022. The vaccination rate with 3 doses of five-valent combination vaccine (DPT+IPV+Hib) was 95.0% in 2021 and 99.5% in 2022.

 Life expectancy was 63.5 years at 15 years old

According to the Life Tables, 2020-2022; life expectancy at birth was 77.5 years for total population, 74.8 years for males and 80.3 years for females in Türkiye.

It was seen that the average remaining life span for children at 7 years old was 71.4 years for total, 68.7 years for boys and 74.1 years for girls in Türkiye. For 15 years old as starting working age, the average remaining life span was 63.5 years for total, 60.8 years for boys and 66.2 years for girls. The difference in life expectancy at this age between boys and girls was 5.4 years.

The most popular names given to babies were Alparslan for boys and Asel for girls

According to the results of ABPRS the most popular names given to newborn baby boys were Alparslan, Yusuf and Göktuğ, the most popular girl names were Asel, Zeynep and Defne in 2023. It was seen that 8 thousand 957 of the newborn boys were named Alparslan, 5 thousand 538 of them were named Yusuf, 5 thousand 361 of them were named Göktuğ; 8 thousand 114 of the newborn girls were named Asel, 7 thousand 614 of them were named Zeynep, 6 thousand 895 of them were named Defne.

 In Türkiye, it was seen that the most popular boy names were Yusuf, Mustafa and Mehmet, the most popular girl names were Zeynep, Elif and Yağmur for the children in 0-17 age group in 2023.

 Child dependency ratio was 31.4% in 2023

 Total age dependency ratio is defined as the total number of persons at 0-14 and persons at 65 and over age groups per 100 persons at 15-64 age group in working age. According to the results of ABPRS, total age dependency ratio was 46.3% in 2023. The child dependency ratio means that the number of children at the 0-14 age group per 100 persons at 15-64 age group was 31.4%.

Net enrollment rate of five-year-olds was 85.0%

According to the formal education statistics of the Ministry of National Education while the net enrollment rate of five-year-olds was 81.6% in the 2021/'22 educational year, it was 85.0% in the 2022/'23 educational year. When the net enrollment rate of five-year-olds was analyzed by sex, this rate was 85.2% for boys and 84.7% for girls.

Net enrollment rate at primary school level was 93.8%, net enrolment rate at lower secondary school level was 91.2% and net enrollment rate at upper secondary school level was 91.7% in the 2022/'23 educational year.

 School completion rates at levels of education increased

According to the National Education Statistics Database results when school completion rates by levels of education and sex were examined, an increase was observed over the years. While primary school completion rate was 98.4% in the 2017/'18 educational year, it was 98.5% in the 2022/'23 educational year. While lower secondary school completion rate was 90.2% in the 2017/'18 educational year, it was 96.3% in the 2022/'23 educational year. Upper secondary education completion rate was increased from 65.1% to 80.3%.

When upper secondary education completion rate was analyzed by sex, it was seen that upper secondary education completion rate was 78.8% for boys and 81.8% for girls in the 2022/'23 educational year.

The proportion of students receiving special education was 2.6%

According to the results of national education statistics 2022/'23 educational year, the number of students who continued formal education throughout Türkiye was 19 million 904 thousand and 679. It was seen that 51.6% of these students were boys and 48.4% were girls.

The number of students in institutions that has specially trained personnel and applies special education programmes giving special education to individuals who needed special education (hearing, vision, orthopaedic and mildly mentally disabled) was 507 thousand and 804. Students receiving special education constituted 2.6% of formal education students. 63.3% of the students receiving special education were boys while 36.7% of them were girls.

 It was observed that children at the age group of 2-14 had the most difficulty in learning and walking

According to the results of Türkiye Health Survey 2022; children at the age group of 2-14 had the best difficulty in learning and in walking with 1.5% according to the declarations of the families. It was stated that 1.0% of children in same age group had difficulty in speaking, 0.8% had difficulty in seeing and 0.4% had difficulty in hearing.

Upper respiratory tract infections were the most common diseases for children

According to the results of Türkiye Health Interview Survey 2022; when the diseases for the 0-6 age group children in the last six months were examined, upper respiratory tract infections were the most common diseases with 31.3%. This was followed by diarrhea with 29.4%, lower respiratory tract infections with 6.9%, and anemia with 6.7%.

Upper respiratory tract infections, also among the 7-14 age group children took the first place with 27.1%. This was followed by diarrhea with 19.8%, oral and dental health problems with 11.2%, and eye problems with 8.8%.

The labour force participation rate for children at the age group of 15-17 was 22.1%

According to the results of Household Labour Force Survey 2022 the labour force participation rate at the age group of 15-17 was 22.1%. When the labour force participation rate was analyzed by sex, it was seen that this rate was 32.2% for boys, and 11.5% for girls.

Legal child marriages for girls decreased

According to marriage statistics while the proportion of legal child marriages for girls aged 16-17 within the total legal marriages was 7.3% in 2002, it decreased to 1.9% in 2023. On the other hand, while the proportion of legal child marriages for boys at the same ages in the total legal marriages was 0.5% in 2002, it was 0.1% in 2023.

The number of children whose fathers died was 263 thousand 757

 

According to the results of ABPRS it was seen that the number of children whose fathers died was 263 thousand 757, the number of children whose mothers died was 82 thousand 291, the number of children whose parents died was 5 thousand 461 within total 22 million 206 thousand 34 children in 2023.

The number of children who were cared for by foster families was 9 thousand 806

According to the data of the Ministry of Family and Social Services it was seen that the number of children in institutional care was 14 thousand 435 in Türkiye in 2023. The number of foster families in total was 8 thousand 164, and the number of children with foster parents was 9 thousand 806. The number of adopted children was 637 in 2023.

The proportion of children given to mother's guardianship was 74.9%

According to divorce statistics the number of couples divorced in 2023 was 171 thousand 881. As a result of the finalized divorce cases, 171 thousand 213 children were given custody. It was observed that 74.9% of the custody of the children was given to the mother, and 25.1% to the father.

Children died mostly as a result of external injuries and poisoning

According to death and causes of death statistics the highest number of child deaths at the age group of 1-17 was occurred due to external injures and poisoning in 2022. The number of child at the age group of 1-17 who died due to this reason was one thousand 275 in 2022. 866 children died due to diseases of the nervous system and the sense organs, 635 children due to neoplasms, 385 children circulatory system diseases.

Infant mortality rate was 9.2 per thousand

According to death and causes of death statistics while the infant mortality rate was 13.9 per thousand in 2009, it decreased to 9.2 per thousand in 2022. When the infant mortality rate was examined by sex, it was seen that the infant mortality rate decreased from 14.6 per thousand to 9.9 per thousand for boys, and it decreased from 13.1 per thousand to 8.4 per thousand for girls between the years of 2009 and 2022.

While the under-five mortality rate which is the probability of dying during five years after birth, was 17.7 per thousand in 2009, it decreased to 11.2 per thousand in 2022. When the under-five mortality rate was examined by sex, it was seen that the under-five mortality rate decreased from 18.5 per thousand to 12.1 per thousand for boys, and it decreased from 16.8 per thousand to 10.2 per thousand for girls between the years of 2009 and 2022. (ILKHA)