Abstract:

Across the developed world, declines in mortality rates associated with the improvement in health conditions and increase in living standards led to declines in fertility rates. The demographic transition process has been experienced as the fertility and mortality rates declined from very high levels to very low levels. Population policies implemented by public authorities to address births have also been effective in the demographic change process. Although the demographic transition is a global process, the development levels and socioeconomic characteristics of the countries have caused the demographic change process to be experienced at different times on a country basis. Significant decreases in fertility and mortality rates since the middle of the twentieth century in Turkey resulted in a rapid demographic transition. This demographic change, which continues as a process, has been effective in changing the structural characteristics of the country's population. In this study, the effects of the demographic transition in Turkey on the total population structure and the future of the country's population have been examined based on the population projections of the United Nations (UN). The study based on the quantitative data obtained from the population surveys of the State Institute of Statistics, Turkish Statistical Institute (TSI) and the UN.The study reveals the necessity of measures to eliminate the negative conditions that prevent parents from having children in order to keep the fertility rate at the level of the reproduction rate.

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