Rural population in Turkey
Turkey: Rural population was 9.02 million in 2025. ▼ Falling
Latest (2025)
9.02 million
Change on year
down 1.0%
World rank
63rd
of 218 countries
All-time high
27.59 million
in 1986
All-time low
9.02 million
in 2025
Years of data
66
1960–2025
Rural population in Turkey, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
In 2025, rural population in Turkey stood at 9.02 million. That is the lowest value across all 66 years on record.
The figure is down 1.0% on the previous year and down 9.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Turkey peaked at 27.59 million in 1986 and was at its lowest, 9.02 million, in 2025.
That places Turkey 63rd out of 218 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 66 years of available data.
Rural population in Turkey, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 21.69 million | — |
| 1961 | 22.20 million | +2.4% |
| 1962 | 22.71 million | +2.3% |
| 1963 | 23.21 million | +2.2% |
| 1964 | 23.69 million | +2.1% |
| 1965 | 24.12 million | +1.8% |
| 1966 | 24.52 million | +1.6% |
| 1967 | 24.86 million | +1.4% |
| 1968 | 25.13 million | +1.1% |
| 1969 | 25.35 million | +0.9% |
| 1970 | 25.56 million | +0.8% |
| 1971 | 25.78 million | +0.9% |
| 1972 | 26.01 million | +0.9% |
| 1973 | 26.20 million | +0.8% |
| 1974 | 26.38 million | +0.7% |
| 1975 | 26.52 million | +0.5% |
| 1976 | 26.67 million | +0.6% |
| 1977 | 26.85 million | +0.7% |
| 1978 | 27.03 million | +0.7% |
| 1979 | 27.17 million | +0.5% |
| 1980 | 27.30 million | +0.5% |
| 1981 | 27.37 million | +0.3% |
| 1982 | 27.43 million | +0.2% |
| 1983 | 27.51 million | +0.3% |
| 1984 | 27.55 million | +0.2% |
| 1985 | 27.58 million | +0.1% |
| 1986 | 27.59 million | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 27.56 million | -0.1% |
| 1988 | 27.52 million | -0.2% |
| 1989 | 27.47 million | -0.2% |
| 1990 | 27.43 million | -0.2% |
| 1991 | 27.39 million | -0.1% |
| 1992 | 27.38 million | -0.1% |
| 1993 | 27.39 million | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 27.41 million | +0.1% |
| 1995 | 27.42 million | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 27.39 million | -0.1% |
| 1997 | 27.32 million | -0.2% |
| 1998 | 27.22 million | -0.4% |
| 1999 | 27.07 million | -0.6% |
| 2000 | 26.84 million | -0.8% |
| 2001 | 26.58 million | -1.0% |
| 2002 | 26.32 million | -1.0% |
| 2003 | 26.06 million | -1.0% |
| 2004 | 25.76 million | -1.1% |
| 2005 | 25.42 million | -1.3% |
| 2006 | 25.02 million | -1.6% |
| 2007 | 24.32 million | -2.8% |
| 2008 | 23.79 million | -2.2% |
| 2009 | 23.17 million | -2.6% |
| 2010 | 22.42 million | -3.2% |
| 2011 | 21.52 million | -4.0% |
| 2012 | 19.71 million | -8.4% |
| 2013 | 16.36 million | -17.0% |
| 2014 | 12.66 million | -22.6% |
| 2015 | 10.00 million | -21.0% |
| 2016 | 9.43 million | -5.7% |
| 2017 | 9.61 million | +1.9% |
| 2018 | 9.63 million | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 9.36 million | -2.8% |
| 2020 | 9.23 million | -1.4% |
| 2021 | 9.11 million | -1.3% |
| 2022 | 9.32 million | +2.3% |
| 2023 | 9.37 million | +0.6% |
| 2024 | 9.11 million | -2.7% |
| 2025 | 9.02 million | -1.0% |
Turkey compared with similar countries
- Turkey's 9.02 million is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 1.53 million, 5.9× the median. (59 countries reporting)
- Turkey's 9.02 million is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 1.49 million, 6.1× the median. (57 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 23.75 million | 21.69 million | 25.35 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 26.42 million | 25.56 million | 27.17 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 27.49 million | 27.30 million | 27.59 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 27.34 million | 27.07 million | 27.43 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 25.33 million | 23.17 million | 26.84 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 14.07 million | 9.36 million | 22.42 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 9.19 million | 9.02 million | 9.37 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near Turkey
More agriculture & rural data for Turkey
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 5.19 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0521 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 968.94 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate -0.9904 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.1051 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 5.2% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 5.2% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.6% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.9% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Turkey?
- Rural population in Turkey was 9.02 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Turkey?
- The highest recorded value was 27.59 million in 1986.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Turkey?
- The lowest recorded value was 9.02 million in 2025.
- How does Turkey rank for rural population?
- Turkey ranks 63rd out of 218 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Turkey?
- Over the last ten years it is down 9.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Turkey data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.