Elderly population in Turkey increased by 21.9% in the last five years

While the elderly population including 65 years and over was 6 million 192 thousand 962 persons in 2014, it increased by 21.9% in the last five years and became 7 million 550 thousand 727 persons in 2019. While the proportion of the elderly population in the total population was 8.0% in 2014, it increased to 9.1% in 2019. 44.2% of elderly population was males and 55.8% was females in 2019.

According to the population projections, the proportion of elderly population was expected to be 10.2% in 2023, 12.9% in 2030, 16.3% in 2040, 22.6% in 2060 and 25.6% in 2080.

Proportion of population by age group, 1935-2080

Source:TurkStat, Population Censuses, 1935-2000
TurkStat, Address Based Population Registration System, 2008-2019
TurkStat, Population Projections, 2023-2080

When elderly population was examined by age group, it was seen that while 60.9% of the elderly population was in the age group of 65-74, 31.4% of it in the age group of 75-84 and 7.7% in the age of 85 and over in 2014, 62.8% of the elderly population was in the age group of 65-74, 28.2% of it in the age group of 75-84 and 9.1% in the age of 85 and over in 2019.

Proportion of elderly population by age group, 2014, 2019

Source: TurkStat, Address Based Population Registration System, 2014, 2019
Figures in graphic may not add up to totals due to rounding

Age structure of the Turkey’s population was changed

Passing the proportion of 10% of the elderly population in the total population is an indicator of the aging population. In Turkey, the elderly population increased with a speed higher than that of other age groups.

Turkey is in the process of demographic transition, which is called the global aging process. Turkey’s shape of age structure changed with advances in public health, better living conditions, increases in welfare level and life expectancy along with decreasing rates of fertility and mortality. The proportion of children and youth in the total population decreased, whereas the proportion of elderly people in the total population increased. Even though Turkey has a young population among countries with older age structure, the absolute number of elderly population is quite high.

Population pyramid, 1935, 1975, 2019

Source:TurkStat, Population Censuses, 1935, 1975
TurkStat, Address Based Population Registration System, 2019

Median age of Turkey’s population increased

The median age is the age of the person in the middle when the ages of the all people in the population are sorted from the new-born baby to the oldest. The median age, one of the indicators of aging population, was 30.7 in 2014 and 32.4 in 2019. The median age was 31.7 for males and 33.1 for females in 2019.

According to the population projections, the median age was expected to be 33.5 in 2023, 35.6 in 2030, 38.5 in 2040, 42.3 in 2060 and 45.0 in 2080.

Elderly dependency ratio means that the number of elderly persons per hundred persons in working age. While the elderly dependency ratio was 11.8% in 2014, this ratio increased to 13.4% in 2019.According to the population projections, elderly dependency ratio was expected to be 15.2% in 2023, 19.6% in 2030, 25.3% in 2040, 37.5% in 2060 and 43.6% in 2080.

According to the population estimates, the world population was 7 billion 604 million 656 thousand 633 people and the elderly population was 703 million 711 thousand 487 people in 2019. According to this estimates, 9.3% of the world population was elderly population. The three countries that had highest proportion of elderly population were Monaco with 34.1%, Japan with 28.8% and Germany with 22.7%, respectively. Turkey was in the 66th rank among 167 countries.

The first 10 countries with the highest and lowest proportion of elderly population, 2019

Source: United States Census Bureau, International Database
The source of Turkey data was TurkStat.When a person reached at the age 65, average remaining life span was 17.9 years

According to the results of Life Tables, 2016-2018, life expectancy at birth was 78.3 years at total, 75.6 years for men and 81.0 years for women in Turkey. In general, women live longer than men and the difference in life expectancy at birth was 5.4 years.
In Turkey for persons at 65 years old, the average remaining life span was 17.9 years for total, 16.2 years for males and 19.4 years for females. In other words, for persons at 65 years old, women were expected to live 3.2 years more than men on average. In addition, life expectancy was 10.9 years at 75 years old and 5.9 years at 85 years old.

Life expectancy by age and sex, 2016-2018

Source: TurkStat, Life Tables, 2016-2018There were at least one elderly person in about one in 4 households

In Turkey, 5 million 629 thousand 421 of 24 million 940 thousand households consisted of at least one elderly person in 2019. In other words, at least one elderly person lived in 23.5% of households.

1 million 373 thousand 521 of 5 million 629 thousand 421 households with at least one elderly person living alone. 75.7% of one-person households was elderly females and 24.3% was elderly males.

Proportion of elderly population by type of household, 2019

Source: TurkStat, Address Based Population Registration System, 2019Province with the highest proportion of elderly population was Sinop

The province that had the highest proportion of elderly population was Sinop with 18.8% in 2019. This province was followed by Kastamonu with 17.7%, Artvin and Çankırı with 16.2%. The provinces that had the lowest proportion of elderly population was Şırnak with 3.3%. This province was followed by Hakkari with 3.4%, Şanlıurfa with 3.9%.

The first 10 provinces with the highest and lowest proportion of elderly population, 2019

Source: TurkStat, Address Based Population Registration System, 2019Number of centenarians was 5 thousand 567

The number of centenarians which constituted 0.1% of elderly population was 5 thousand 567 in 2019. While the first three provinces that had the highest centenarians were İstanbul with 763 persons, Ankara with 275 persons and Giresun with 242 persons, the first three provinces that had the lowest centenarians was Bayburt with 5 persons, Ardahan and Karaman with 6 persons.

While the proportion of illiterate elderly population was 22.9% in 2014, it decreased to 18.3% in 2018. It was seen that the proportion of illiterate elderly female population was 4.5 times higher than that of elderly male population. While the proportion of illiterate elderly female population was 27.9%, this proportion was 6.1% for elderly male population.

Literacy level of elderly population by sex, 2014, 2018

Source: TurkStat, National Education Statistics Database, 2014, 2018

When the level of education of elderly population was examined, it was seen that while 42.1% of elderly population was primary school, 5.0% of them was junior high school or equivalent/primary education, 5.2% of them was high school or equivalent, 5.1% of them was higher education graduates in 2014, these proportions increased to 45.0% in primary school, 6.5% in junior high school or equivalent/primary education, 6.8% in high school or equivalent and 6.6% in higher education graduates in 2018.

When the level of education of elderly population was examined by sex, it was seen that there was a significant difference between sexes. It was seen that the proportion of the elderly male population was higher than that of female population at all completed levels of education.

Proportion of elderly population by the level of education, 2014, 2018

Source: TurkStat, National Education Statistics Database, 2014, 2018Proportion of widowed elderly females was 4 times higher than those of males

When elderly population was examined by legal marital status, it was seen that there was a significant differences between sexes. While 1.2% of elderly male population was never married, 83.7% of them was formally married, 3.3% of them was divorced and 11.9% of them was widowed, it was seen that 2.6% of elderly female population was never married, 45.4% of them was formally married, 3.7% of them was divorced and 48.3% of them was widowed in 2019.

Proportion of elderly population by marital status and sex, 2019

Source: TurkStat, Address Based Population Registration System, 2019
Figures in graphic may not add up to totals due to rounding.Poverty rate was 16.4% for elderly population

According to the results of income and living conditions survey, while poverty rate calculated by using 60% of equalised household disposable median income was 21.8% for Turkey in 2014, this rate was 21.2% in 2018. While poverty rate for elderly population was 18.3% in 2014, this rate was 16.4% in 2018.

When the poverty of elderly population was examined by sex, it was seen that while the poverty rate for elderly male population was 18.3% in 2014, this rate was 14.4% in 2018. While the poverty rate for elderly female population was 18.2% in 2014, this rate was 17.9% in 2018.

According to the results of household labour force survey, while the labour force participation rate for 15 and over aged population was 50.5% in 2014, this rate was increased to 53.2% in 2018. While the labour force participation rate for 65 and over aged population was 11.5% in 2014, this rate was 12.5% in 2018. When the labour force participation rate was examined by sex, it was seen that this rate was 20.9% for elderly male population, and it was 5.9% for elderly female population in 2018. While the unemployment rate of elderly population was 2.1% in 2014, it was 2.7% in 2018.

Source: TurkStat, Household Labour Force Survey, 2018

65.5% of employed elderly population was in agricultural sector

According to the results of household labour force survey, when the sectoral distribution of employed elderly population was examined, it was seen that elderly population was employed in agricultural sector with 65.5%, services sector with 27.3%, industry sector with 4.7% and construction sector with 2.5% in 2018.

According to the causes of death statistics, 43.8% of elderly people lost their lives from diseases of the circulatory system in 2018. This was followed by neoplasm diseases with 16.5% and respiratory system diseases with 14.8%.

When the causes of death were examined by sex, it was seen that the most important difference between sexes was in neoplasm diseases. The proportion of elderly male people died from neoplasm diseases was about twice as high as that of elderly female people. While the proportion of elderly male people died from neoplasm diseases was 21.3%, this proportion was 11.6% for elderly female people.

Proportion of elderly deceased people by causes of death and sex, 2018

Source: TurkStat, Causes of Death Statistics, 2018Proportion of elderly people who die from Alzheimer’s disease increased

According to the causes of death statistics, while the number of elderly people who died from Alzheimer’s disease was 10 thousand 236 in 2014, it increased to 13 thousand 767 in 2018. While the proportion of elderly people who died from Alzheimer’s disease was 3.9% in 2014, this proportion increased to 4.6% in 2018.

When the proportion of elderly people who died from Alzheimer’s disease was examined by sex, it was seen that there was an increase in both sexes. While the proportion of elderly people who died from Alzheimer’s disease was 3.1% for males and 4.6% for females in 2014, these proportions increased to 3.5% for males and 5.7% for females in 2018.

Proportion of elderly people deceased from Alzheimer’s disease by sex, 2010-2018

Source: TurkStat, Causes of Death Statistics, 2010-2018Proportion of elderly people who declared themselves as happy was 58.6%

According to the results of life satisfaction survey, while the proportion of individuals aged 18 and over who declared themselves as happy was 52.4% in 2019, this proportion was 58.6% for individuals aged 65 and over. When the general level of happiness was examined by sex, 56.9% of elderly males and 59.9% of elderly females declared themselves as happy in 2019.

Level of happiness by age group, 2019
Source: TurkStat, Life Satisfaction Survey, 2019
Figures in graphic may not add up to totals due to rounding.

Source of happiness for elderly people was their families with 71.4%

According to the results of life satisfaction survey, sources of happiness for elderly people was their families with 71.4%, their children with 14.7%, their spouses with 6.4% and their grandchildren 4.1% in 2014. In 2019, sources of happiness for elderly people was their families with 71.4%, their children with 13.7%, their grandchildren with 4.9% and their spouses with 4.7%.

According to the results of information and communication technology usage survey in households and by individuals, while the proportion of elderly people using Internet in the 65-74 age group was 5.0% in 2014, this proportion increased to 19.8% in 2019. When the elderly people using Internet were examined by sex, it was seen that males used Internet more than females. While the proportion of elderly males using Internet was 25.3%, the proportion of elderly females was 15.0% in 2019.

Proportion of using Internet of elderly people, 2014, 2019

Source: TurkStat, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Usage Survey in Households and by Individuals, 2014, 2019The next release on this subject will be on March, 2021.

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EXPLANATIONS

Turkish Statistical Institute has been started to publish press releases on special occasions with reference to the importance of the day since 2012. In the framework of “Respect for Elderly Week”, the press release prepared specifically for elderly population includes socio-economic characteristics of the elderly population such as demographic structure, education, marital status, health, poverty, employment status, life satisfaction and etc.