ANKARA
Turkey's prime minister Tayip Erdogan has instructed his cabinet members to mull ways to prevent a decline in population, which, the country's statistics authority estimates to start decelerating after 2035, Turkish deputy premier said Wednesday.
"Mr Prime Minister has instructed me to lead efforts with all other related ministries. We need to implement some very smart measures. We need a well-outlined plan that would take into account possible effects on budget balances," Ali Babacan told a televised interview.
TurkStat (TÜİK), Turkey's statistics authority, has recently announced the country's population reached 75.6 million in 2012, saying the growth pace had slowed down from 0.13 percent in 2011 to 0.12 percent last year.
Babacan said Turkey's population was expected to increase until the year of 2035 to reach and stabilize at 80-85 million and then begin to decline.
