Türkiye’s fertility rate down in 2023

ISTANBUL

Türkiye's fertility rate decreased for the eighth consecutive year in 2023, reaching 1.51 live births per woman, according to official data released on Wednesday.

“This showed that fertility remained below the population’s replacement level of 2.10,” the country’s statistical bureau TurkStat said in a statement.

The data highlighted that a woman gave approximately 2.38 live births during her reproductive life in 2001, and 1.51 in 2023.

The number of live births in Türkiye was calculated at just over 958,400, with 51.3% of them boys and 48.7% girls.

The highest total fertility rate was in the southeastern Sanliurfa province with 3.27 children, while the lowest was in the northern Bartin province with 1.13.

The crude birth rate, which is the number of live births per thousand population, fell to 11.2 in 2023 from 12.2 in 2022.

The mean age of the mothers giving birth rose to 29.2 in 2023, while it was 29 for giving birth to the first child.