Turkey’s total fertility rate stands at 2.07 in 2017

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's total fertility rate, the average number of live births that a woman would have, stood at 2.07 per woman in 2017, according to data released by Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

"While the total fertility rate was 2.11 children in 2016, this rate was 2.07 children in 2017. This showed that fertility remained below the population's replacement level of 2.10," TurkStat said.

According to latest World Bank data, the world's total fertility rate was 2.4 in 2016.

TurkStat said the highest age specific fertility rate was seen in 25-29 age group. "The number of live births was 132 per thousand women in 25-29 age group in 2017," the institute added.

The number of live births dropped to 1.29 million last year, compared to 1.31 million previous year.

"51.3 percent of live born babies were boys and 48.7 percent were girls," it said.

The average age of women who gave birth was 28.7 last year, up from 28.6 previous year.

"On the other hand, mother's mean age at first birth was 26 in 2017 while it was 25.8 in 2016. Mother’s age at first birth is an important determinant of the overall level of fertility since early childbearing generally leads to a larger family size compared to later onset of childbearing," it said.

TurkStat also revealed that the average household size shrank to 3.4 in 2017, down from 3.7 persons in 2012.

Early this year, Turkstat said that the country’s population was 80.8 million at the end of 2017, with an annual growth rate of 1.24 percent.

The statistical authority in February, forecasted the country's total population to cross 100 million in 2040.

The data also showed that the percentage of child marriages for girls aged 16-17 among legal marriages declined to 4.2 percent in 2017 compared to 4.6 percent previous year.