Average household size in Turkey falls as more people live alone, TurkStat data show

The average household size in Turkey fell to 3.08 people in 2025, while the share of people living alone continued to rise, according to the latest data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), showing a broader shift in family life amid growing concerns over falling birthrates and demographic change.

The figures, included in TurkStat’s “Statistics on Family, 2025” bulletin, show that the average household size has declined significantly over the past 17 years, from four people in 2008 to 3.08 in 2025.

The data were released after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared 2025 the “Year of the Family,” while the period between 2026 and 2035 has been designated as the “Decade of Family and Population.” Authorities have also decided that the last week of May will be marked every year as “National Family Week.”

According to the Address Based Population Registration System, the province with the largest average household size was Şırnak, at 4.84 people, while the lowest was recorded in the eastern province of Tunceli at 2.49.

The share of one-person households rose from 13.9 percent in 2014 to 20.5 percent in 2025, meaning that roughly one in five households now consists of a person living alone. The highest rate of one-person households was recorded in Gümüşhane, at 32.7 percent, while Batman had the lowest rate, at 11.5 percent.

The share of households made up of a single nuclear family also declined, falling from 67.4 percent in 2014 to 62.7 percent in 2025. Extended-family households fell from 16.7 percent to 13.5 percent over the same period.

Single-parent households, meanwhile, increased from 7.6 percent in 2014 to 11.3 percent in 2025. Households made up of mothers and children accounted for 8.5 percent of all households. Bingöl had the highest share of single-parent households, at 13.8 percent.

The family statistics also showed that 26.1 percent of households in Turkey had at least one elderly person in 2025. Elderly people living alone accounted for 33.2 percent of one-person households, and women made up 73.5 percent of elderly people living alone.

Among people aged 25 to 29 who had never married, 70 percent lived with their mother and/or father. Men accounted for 42.6 percent of that group, while women accounted for 27.4 percent.

The rate of marriages between relatives continued to decline, falling from 5.9 percent in 2010 to 3 percent in 2025. Şanlıurfa had the highest rate of consanguineous marriage, at 16.9 percent, followed by Mardin and Siirt.

Falling birthrate

The figures come as Turkey faces a deepening demographic challenge marked by shrinking families, a falling child population and fertility rates below the population replacement level.

Children aged 0 to 17 made up 24.8 percent of Turkey’s population at the end of 2025, the lowest level since records began to be kept in 1935. The child population, which accounted for 48.5 percent of the total population in 1970 and 41.8 percent in 1990, has steadily declined in recent decades.

The latest official annual birth statistics show that Turkey’s total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime, fell to a record low of 1.48 in 2024, well below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. TurkStat has not yet released an official annual fertility rate for 2025, but monthly data published by the institute showed that births fell by 8.3 percent in the first seven months of 2025 compared with the same period of the previous year, dropping to 503,765.

Erdoğan has repeatedly warned about the country’s declining birthrate, calling it a threat to Turkey’s future and urging families to have at least three children. His government has announced financial incentives for newlyweds and families with children, but critics say persistently high inflation, rising education costs, youth unemployment and limited social support have made starting or expanding families increasingly difficult.

The data also pointed to widespread housing problems. In 2025, 28.8 percent of the population reported problems such as leaking roofs, damp walls or rotten window frames. The share of people reporting heating problems was 27.9 percent, while 22.1 percent complained of pollution or other environmental problems.