Most populated cities in Turkey in 2023

In 2023, the major city of Istanbul had almost 15.7 million inhabitants and was the province with the highest population in Turkey. The Turkish capital, Ankara, was the second-largest province, with 5.8 million people residing there in the same year.

Characteristics of the Turkish population

The population of Turkey has been following a continuously increasing trend for a long time. As of 2023, there were approximately 85.4 million people living in the country. That year, the male population was slightly higher than the female population, amounting to over 42.7 million. When it comes to the gender distribution among the age groups, the gender gap was the highest among the 90-year-olds and older. In 2023, women constituted 70 percent of that age group, whereas the share of men was slightly higher among 0-to-59-year-olds. 

Structure of the Turkish households

The demand for living alone has been increasing in many communities. The case is not much different in Turkey, where the proportion of single households has been on the rise steadily. The share of households with one person peaked in 2023 at nearly 20 percent in the country. However, one-family households still registered the highest number of residents as of 2023, with roughly 16.7 million. In comparison, one-person households counted 5.2 million individuals.